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SOCIETY  IN    AMERICA 


HARRIET    MARTINEAU, 

AUTHOR    OF    "  ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    POLITICAL    ECONOMY.' 


IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 
VOL.  II. 


LONDON 

SAUNDERS  AND  OTLEY,  CONDUIT  STREET. 
1837. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED    BY    IBOTSOV    AND    PAI.MKR, 
SAVOY    STREET. 


CONTENTS. 

VOL.   II. 


PART    II. 

Page 

ECONOMY—  The  Northern  Lakes  .                  .         i 

CHAPTER    I. 

AGRICULTURE                 .                 .  .                .29 

SECTION  I.  —  Disposal  of  Land        .  .            .66 

II.  —  Rural  Labour      •  .                 .93 

CHAPTER  II. 

TRANSPORT  AND  MARKETS               .  .               .171 

SECTION  I.  —  Internal  Improvements  .            .     209 

CHAPTER  III. 

MANUFACTURES           .                 .  .                  .219 

SECTION  I.—  The  Tariff     .             .  .            .231 

II-  —  Manufacturing  Labour  .                 .     242 


303062 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

COMMERCE         .            .                .                .  .'256 

SECTION  I. — The  Currency             .          '•  . '     •       .    273 

II. — Revenue  and  Expenditure  .         •    288 


CHAPTER   V. 

MORALS  OP  ECONOMY     .            *  .  .                 .  293 

/' SECTION  I — Morals  of  Slavery         .  .           .  312 

II. — Morals  of  Manufactures  •                 .  352 

III. — Morals  of  Commerce  .            .  359 


SOCIETY  IN  AMERICA. 


PART    II. 

CONTINUED. 

ECONOMY. 

WHILE  we  were  at  Detroit,  we  were  most  strongly 
urged  to  return  thither  by  the  Lakes,  instead 
of  by  either  of  the  Michigan  roads.  From 
place  to  place,  in  my  previous  travelling,  I  had 
been  told  of  the  charms  of  the  Lakes,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Island  of  Mackinaw.  Every  officer's 
lady  who  has  been  in  garrison  there,  is  eloquent 
upon  the  delights  of  Mackinaw.  As  our  whole 
party,  however,  could  not  spare  time  to  -make  so 
wide  a  circuit,  we  had  not  intended  to  indulge  our- 
selves with  a  further  variation  in  our  travels  than 
to  take  the  upper  road  back  to  Detroit;  having 
left  it  by  the  lower.  On  Sunday,  June  27th,  news 


2  ECONOMY. 

arrived  at  Chicago  that  this  upper  road  had  been 
rendered  impassable  by  the  rains.  A  sailing  vessel, 
the  only  one  on  the  Lakes,  and  now  on  her  first 
trip,  was  to  leave  Chicago  for  Detroit  and  Buffalo, 
the  next  day.  The  case  was  clear:  the  party 
must  divide.  Those  who  were  obliged  to  hasten 
home  must  return  by  the  road  we  came :  the  rest 
must  proceed  by  water.  On  Charley's  account, 
the  change  of  plan  was  desirable;  as  the  heats 
were  beginning  to  be  so  oppressive  as  to  render 
travelling  in  open  wagons  unsafe  for  a  child.  It 
was  painful  to  break  up  our  party  at  the  extreme 
point  of  our  journey ;  but  it  was  clearly  right.  So 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  took  their  chance  by  land;  and 
the  rest  of  us  went  on  board  the  Milwaukee,  at 
two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  28th. 

Mrs.  F.  and  I  were  the  only  ladies  on  board ; 
and  there  was  no  stewardess.  The  steward  was 
obliging,  and  the  ladies'  cabin  was  clean  and  capa- 
cious ;  and  we  took  possession  of  it  with  a  feeling 
of  comfort.  Our  pleasant  impressions,  however, 
were  not  of  long  duration.  The  vessel  was  crowded 
with  persons  who  had  come  to  the  land  sales  at 
Chicago,  and  were  taking  their  passage  back  to 
Milwaukee ;  a  settlement  on  the  western  shore  of 
the  lake,  about  eighty  miles  from  Chicago.  Till 
we  should  reach  Milwaukee,  we  could  have  the 
ladies'  cabin  only  during  a  part  of  the  day.  I  say 


ECONOMY.  3 

a  part  of  the  day,  because  some  of  the  gentry  did 
not  leave  our  cabin  till  near  nine  in  the  morning ; 
and  others  chose  to  come  down,  and  go  to  bed,  as 
early  as  seven  in  the  evening,  without  troubling 
themselves  to  give  us  five  minutes'  notice,  or  to 
wait  till  we  could  put  up  our  needles,  or  wipe 
our  pens.  This  ship  was  the  only  place  in  America 
where  I  saw  a  prevalence  of  bad  manners.  It  was 
the  place  of  all  others  to  select  for  the  study  of 
such;  and  no  reasonable  person  would  look  for 
anything  better  among  land-speculators,  and  set- 
tlers in  regions  so  new  as  to  be  almost  without 
women.  None  of  us  had  ever  before  seen,  in 
America,  a  disregard  of  women.  The  swearing  was 
incessant;  and  the  spitting  such  as  to  amaze  my 
American  companions  as  much  as  myself. 

Supper  was  announced  presently  after  we  had 
sailed ;  and  when  we  came  to  the  table,  it  was  full, 
and  no  one  offered  to  stir,  to  make  room  for  us. 
The  captain,  who  was  very  careful  of  our  comfort, 
arranged  that  we  should  be  better  served  hence- 
forth; and  no  difficulty  afterwards  occurred.  At 
dinner,  the  next  day,  we  had  a  specimen  of  how 
such  personages  as  we  had  on  board  are  managed 
on  an  emergency.  The  captain  gave  notice,  from 
the  head  of  the  table,  that  he  did  not  choose  our 
party  to  be  intruded  on  in  the  cabin  ;  and  that  any 
one  who  did  not  behave  with  civility  at  table  should 

B  2 


4  ECONOMY. 

be  turned  out.  He  spoke  with  decision  and  good- 
humour;  and  the  effect  was  remarkable.  Every- 
thing on  the  table  was  handed  to  us ;  and  no  mOre 
of  the  gentry  came  down  into  our  cabin  to  smoke, 
or  throw  themselves  on  the  cushions  to  sleep,  while 
we  sat  at  work. 

Our  fare  was  what  might  be  expected  on  Lake 
Michigan.  Salt  beef  and  pork,  and  sea-biscuit ; 
tea  without  railk,  bread,  and  potatoes.  Charley 
throve  upon  potatoes  and  bread ;  and  we  all  had 
the  best  results  of  food,  — health  and  strength. 

A  little  schooner  which  left  Chicago  at  the  same 
time  with  ourselves,  and  reached  Milwaukee  first, 
was  a  pretty  object.  On  the  29th,  we  were  only 
twenty-five  miles  from  the  settlement ;  but  the 
wind  was  so  unfavourable  that  it  was  doubtful 
whether  we  should  reach  it  that  day.  Some  of  the 
passengers  amused  themselves  by  gaming,  down  in 
the  hold ;  others  by  parodying  a  methodist  sermon, 
and  singing  a  mock  hymn.  We  did  not  get  rid  of 
them  till  noon  on  the  30th,  when  we  had  the  plea- 
sure of  seeing  our  ship  disgorge  twenty-five  into 
one  boat,  and  two  into  another.  The  atmosphere 
was  so  transparent  as  to  make  the  whole  scene  ap- 
pear as  if  viewed  through  an  opera-glass;  the  still, 
green  waters,  the  dark  boats  with  their  busy  oars, 
the  moving  passengers,  and  the  struggles  of  one  to 
recover  his  hat,  which  had  fallen  overboard.  We 


ECONOMY.  5 

were  yet  five  miles  from  Milwaukee ;  but  we  could 
see  the  bright,  wooded  coast,  with  a  few  white  dots 
of  houses. 

While  Dr.  F.  went  on  shore,  to  see  what  was  to 
be  seen,  we  had  the  cabin  cleaned  out,  and  took, 
once  more,  complete  possession  of  it,  for  both  day 
and  night.  As  soon  as  this  was  done,  seven  young 
women  came  down  the  companion-way,  seated 
themselves  round  the  cabin,  and  began  to  question 
us.  They  were  the  total  female  population  of  Mil- 
waukee ;  which  settlement  now  contains  four  hun- 
dred souls.  We  were  glad  to  see  these  ladies;  for 
it  was  natural  enough  that  the  seven  women  should 
wish  to  behold  two  more,  when  such  a  chance 
offered.  A  gentleman  of  the  place,  who  came  on 
board  this  afternoon,  told  me  that  a  printing-press 
had  arrived  a  few  hours  before ;  and  that  a  news- 
paper would  speedily  appear.  He  was  kind  enough 
to  forward  the  first  number  to  me  a  few  weeks 
afterwards ;  and  I  was  amused  to  see  how  pathetic 
an  appeal  to  the  ladies  of  more  thickly-settled  dis- 
tricts it  contained ;  imploring  them  to  cast  a  favour- 
able eye  on  Milwaukee,  and  its  hundreds  of 
bachelors.  Milwaukee  had  been  settled  since  the 
preceding  November.  It  had  good  stores ;  (to 
judge  by  the  nature  and  quantity  of  goods  sent 
ashore  from  our  ship;)  it  had  a  printing-press  and 
newspaper,  before  the  settlers  had  had  time  to  get 


6  ECONOMY. 

wives.  I  heard  these  new  settlements  sometimes 
called  "patriarchal:"  but  what  would  the  patri- 
archs have  said  to  such  an  order  of  affairs  ? 

Dr.  F.  returned  from  the  town,  with  apple-pies, 
cheese,  and  ale,  wherewith  to  vary  our  ship  diet. 
With  him  arrived  such  a  number  of  towns-people, 
that  the  steward  wanted  to  turn  us  out  of  our 
cabin  once  more :  but  we  were  sturdy,  appealed  to 
the  captain,  and  were  confirmed  in  possession. 
From  this  time,  began  the  delights  of  our  voyage. 
The  moon,  with  her  long  train  of  glory,  was  mag- 
nificent to-night ;  the  vast  body  of  waters  on  which 
she  shone  being  as  calm  as  if  the  winds  were  dead. 

The  navigation  of  these  lakes  is,  at  present,  a 
mystery.  They  have  not  yet  been  properly  sur- 
veyed. Our  captain  had  gone  to  and  fro  on  Lake 
Huron,  but  had  never  before  been  on  Lake  Michi- 
gan ;  and  this  was  rather  an  anxious  voyage  to  him. 
We  had  got  aground  on  the  sand-bar  before  Mil- 
waukee harbour ;  and  on  the  1st  of  July,  all  hands 
were  busy  in  unshipping  the  cargo,  to  lighten  the 
vessel,  instead  of  carrying  her  up  to  the  town.  An 
elegant  little  schooner  was  riding  at  anchor  near  us  ; 
and  we  were  well  amused  in  admiring  her,  and  in 
watching  the  bustle  on  deck,  till  some  New- 
England  youths,  and  our  Milwaukee  acquaintance, 
brought  us,  from  the  shore,  two  newspapers,  some 
pebbles,  flowers,  and  a  pitcher  of  fine  strawberries. 


ECONOMY.  7 

As  soon  as  we  were  off  the  bar,  the  vessel  hove 
round,  and  we  cast  anchor  in  deeper  water.  Charley 
was  called  to  see  the  sailors  work  the  windlass, 
and  to  have  a  ride  thereon.  The  sailors  were  very 
kind  to  the  boy.  They  dressed  up  their  dog  for 
him  in  sheep-skins  and  a  man's  hat;  a  sight  to 
make  older  people  than  Charley  laugh.  They 
took  him  down  into  the  forecastle  to  show  him 
prints  that  were  pasted  up  there.  They  asked  him 
to  drink  rum  and  water  with  them :  to  which 
Charley  answered  that  he  should  be  happy 
to  drink  water  with  them,  but  had  rather  not 
have  any  rum.  While  we  were  watching  the 
red  sunset  over  the  leaden  waters,  betokening  a 
change  of  weather,  the  steamer  "  New  York"  came 
ploughing  the  bay,  three  weeks  after  her  time ; 
such  is  the  uncertainty  in  the  navigation  of  these 
stormy  lakes.  She  got  aground  on  the  sand-bank, 
as  we  had  done ;  and  boats  were  going  from  her  to 
the  shore  and  back,  as  long  as  we  could  see. 

The  next  day  there  was  rain  and  some  wind. 
The  captain  and  steward  went  off  to  make  final 
purchases :  but  the  fresh  meat  which  had  been  be- 
spoken for  us  had  been  bought  up  by  somebody 
else ;  and  no  milk  was  to  be  had ;  only  two  cows 
being  visible  in  all  the  place.  Ale  was  the  only 
luxury  we  could  obtain.  When  the  captain  re- 
turned, he  brought  with  him  a  stout  gentleman, 
one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  vessel,  who  must  have 


8  ECONOMY. 

a  berth  in  our  cabin  as  far  as  Mackinaw;  those 
elsewhere  being  too  small  for  him.  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances, we  had  no  right  to  complain;  so  we 
helped  the  steward  to  partition  off  a  portion  of  the 
cabin  with  a  counterpane,  fastened  with  four  forks. 
This  gentleman,  Mr.  D.,  was  engaged  in  the  fur 
trade  at  Mackinaw,  and  had  a  farm  there,  to  which 
he  kindly  invited  us. 

On  Sunday,  the  3rd,  there  was  much  speculation 
as  to  whether  we  should  be  at  Mackinaw  in  time 
to  witness  the  celebration  of  the  great  day.  All 
desired  it ;  but  I  was  afraid  of  missing  the  Manitou 
Isles  in  the  dark.  There  was  much  fog ;  the  wind 
was  nearly  fair ;  the  question  was  whether  it  would 
last.  Towards  evening,  the  fog  thickened,  and  the 
wind  freshened.  The  mate  would  not  believe  we 
were  in  the  middle  of  the  lake,  as  every  one  else 
supposed.  He  said  the  fog  was  too  warm  not  to 
come  from  near  land.  Charley  caught  something 
of  the  spirit  of  uncertainty,  and  came  to  me  in  high, 
joyous  excitement,  to  drag  me  to  the  side  of  the 
ship,  that  I  might  see  how  fast  we  cut  through  the 
waves,  and  how  steadily  we  leaned  over  the  water, 
till  Charley  almost  thought  he  could  touch  it.  He 
burst  out  about  the  "kind  of  a  feeling"  that  it  was 
"  not  to  see  a  bit  of  land,"  and  not  to  know  where 
we  were ;  and  to  think  "  if  we  should  upset !"  and 
that  we  never  did  upset : — it  was  "  a  good  and  a  bad 
feeling  at  once ;"  and  he  should  never  be  able  to 


ECONOMY.  9 

tell  people  at  home  what  it  was  like.  The  boy  had 
no  fear :  he  was  roused,  as  the  brave  man  loves  to 
be.  Just  as  the  dim  light  of  the  sunset  was  fading 
from  the  fog,  it  opened,  and  disclosed  to  us,  just  at 
hand,  the  high,  sandy  shore  of  Michigan.  It  was  well 
that  this  happened  before  dark.  The  captain  has- 
tened up  to  the  mast-head,  and  reported  that  we  were 
off  Cape  Sable,  forty  miles  from  the  Manitou  Isles. 

Three  bats  and  several  butterflies  were  seen  to- 
day, clinging  to  the  mainsail, — blown  over  from 
the  shore.  The  sailors  set  their  dog  at  a  bat,  of 
which  it  was  evidently  afraid.  A  flock  of  pretty 
pigeons  flew  round  and  over  the  ship ;  of  which  six 
were  shot.  Four  fell  into  the  water;  and  the 
other  two  were  reserved  for  the  maters  breakfast; 
he  being  an  invalid. 

We  were  up  before  five,  on  the  morning  of  the 
4th  of  July,  to  see  the  Manitou  Isles,  which  were 
then  just  coming  in  sight.  They  are  the  Sacred 
Isles  of  the  Indians,  to  whom  they  belong.  Mani- 
tou is  the  name  of  their  Great  Spirit,  and  of  every- 
thing sacred.  It  is  said  that  they  believe  these 
islands  to  be  the  resort  of  the  spirits  of  the  de- 
parted. They  are  two :  sandy  and  precipitous  at 
the  south  end ;  and  clothed  with  wood,  from  the 
crest  of  the  cliffs  to  the  north  extremity,  which 
slopes  down  gradually  to  the  water.  It  was  a  cool, 
sunny  morning,  and  these  dark  islands  lay  still, 

B  5 


10  ECONOMY. 

and  apparently  deserted,  on  the  bright  green 
waters.  Far  behind,  to  the  south,  were  two  glitter- 
ing white  sails,  on  the  horizon.  They  remained  in 
sight  all  day,  and  lessened  the  feeling  of  loneliness 
which  the  navigators  of  these  vast  lakes  cannot  but 
have,  while  careering  among  the  solemn  islands 
and  shores.  On  our  right  lay  the  Michigan  shore, 
high  and  sandy,  with  the  dark  eminence,  called  the 
Sleeping  Bear,  conspicuous  on  the  ridge.  No  land 
speculators  have  set  foot  here  yet.  A  few  Indian 
dwellings,  with  evergreen  woods  and  sandy  cliffs, 
are  all.  Just  here,  Mr.  D.  pointed  out  to  us  a 
schooner  of  his  which  was  wrecked,  in  a  snow- 
storm, the  preceding  November.  She  looked 
pretty  and  forlorn,  lying  on  her  side  in  that  deso- 
late place,  seeming  a  mere  plaything  thrown  in 
among  the  cliffs.  "  Ah  !"  said  her  owner,  with  a 
sigh,  "  she  was  a  lovely  creature,  and  as  stiff  as  a 
church."  Two  lives  were  lost.  Two  young  Ger- 
mans, stout  lads,  could  not  comprehend  the  orders 
given  them  to  put  on  all  their  clothing,  and  keep 
themselves  warm.  They  only  half-dressed  them- 
selves :  "  the  cold  took  them,"  and  they  died. 
The  rest  tried  to  make  fire  by  friction  of  wood ; 
but  got  only  smoke.  Some  one  found  traces  of  a 
dog  in  the  snow.  These  were  followed  for  three 
miles,  and  ended  at  an  Indian  lodge,  where  the 
sailors  were  warmed,  and  kindly  treated. 


ECONOMY.  1 1 

During  the  bright  morning  of  this  day  we  passed 
the  Fox  and  Beaver  Islands.  The  captain  was  in 
fine  spirits,  though  there  was  no  longer  any  pros- 
pect of  reaching  Mackinaw  in  time  for  the  festivi- 
ties of  the  day.  This  island  is  chiefly  known  as  a 
principal  station  of  the  great  north-western  fur 
trade.  Others  know  it  as  the  seat  of  an  Indian 
mission.  Others,  again,  as  a  frontier  garrison.  It 
is  known  to  me  as  the  wildest  and  tenderest  little 
piece  of  beauty  that  I  have  yet  seen  on  God's 
earth.  It  is  a  small  island,  nine  miles  in  circum- 
ference, being  in  the  strait  between  the  Lakes  Mi- 
chigan and  Huron,  and  between  the  coasts  of  Mi- 
chigan and  Wisconsin. 

Towards  evening  the  Wisconsin  coast  came  into 
view,  the  strait  suddenly  narrowed,  and  we  were 
about  to  bid  farewell  to  the  great  Lake  whose  total 
length  we  had  traversed,  after  sweeping  round  its 
southern  extremity.  The  ugly  light-ship,  which 
looked  heavy  enough,  came  into  view  about  six 
o'clock ;  the  first  token  of  our  approach  to  Mack- 
inaw. The  office  of  the  light-ship  is  to  tow  ves- 
sels in  the  dark  through  the  strait.  We  were  too 
early  for  this ;  but  perhaps  it  performed  that  office 
for  the  two  schooners  whose  white  specks  of  sails 
had  been  on  our  southern  horizon  all  day.  Next 
we  saw  a  white  speck  before  us ;  it  was  the  bar- 
racks of  Mackinaw,  stretching  along  the  side  of  its 


12  ECONOMY, 

green  hills,  and  clearly  visible   before   the   town 
came  into  view. 

The  island  looked  enchanting  as  we  approached, 
as  I  think  it  always  must,  though  we  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  seeing  it  first  steeped  in  the  most  golden 
sunshine  that  ever  hallowed  lake  or  shore.  The 
colours  were  up  on  all  the  little  vessels  in  the  har- 
bour. The  national  flag  streamed  from  the  garri- 
son. The  soldiers  thronged  the  walls  of  the  bar- 
racks ;  half-breed  boys  were  paddling  about  in  their 
little  canoes,  in  the  transparent  waters;  the  half- 
French,  half-Indian  population  of  the  place  were  all 
abroad  in  their  best.  An  Indian  lodge  was  on  the 
shore,  and  a  picturesque  dark  group  stood  beside 
it.  The  cows  were  coming  down  the  steep  green 
slopes  to  the  milking.  Nothing  could  be  more 
bright  and  joyous. 

The  houses  of  the  old  French  village  are  shabby- 
looking,  dusky,  and  roofed  with  bark.  There  are 
some  neat  yellow  houses,  with  red  shutters,  which 
have  a  foreign  air,  with  their  porches  and  flights 
of  steps.  The  better  houses  stand  on  the  first  of 
the  three  terraces  which  are  distinctly  marked. 
Behind  them  are  swelling  green  knolls;  before 
them  gardens  sloping  down  to  the  narrow  slip  of 
white  beach,  so  that  the  grass  seems  to  grow  al- 
most into  the  clear  rippling  waves.  The  gardens 
were  rich  with  mountain  ash,  roses,  stocks,  currant 


ECONOMY.  13 

bushes,  springing  corn,  and  a  great  variety  of 
kitchen  vegetables.  There  were  two  small  piers 
with  little  barks  alongside,  and  piles  of  wood  for 
the  steam-boats.  Some  way  to  the  right  stood  the 
quadrangle  of  missionary  buildings,  and  the  white 
mission  church.  Still  further  to  the  right  was  a 
shrubby  precipice  down  to  the  lake ;  and  beyond, 
the  blue  waters.  While  we  were  gazing  at  all  this, 
a  pretty  schooner  sailed  into  the  harbour  after  us, 
in  fine  style,  sweeping  round  our  bows  so  suddenly 
as  nearly  to  swamp  a  little  fleet  of  canoes,  each 
with  its  pair  of  half-breed  boys. 

We  had  been  alarmed  by  a  declaration  from  the 
captain  that  he  should  stay  only  three  hours  at  the 
island.  He  seemed  to  have  no  intention  of  taking 
us  ashore  this  evening.  The  dreadful  idea  oc- 
curred to  us  that  we  might  be  carried  away  from 
this  paradise,  without  having  set  foot  in  it.  We 
looked  at  each  other  in  dismay.  Mr.  D.  stood  our 
friend.  He  had  some  furs  on  board  which  were  to 
be  landed.  He  said  this  should  not  be  done  till 
the  morning;  and  he  would  take  care  that  his 
people  did  it  with  the  utmost  possible  slowness. 
He  thought  he  could  gain  us  an  additional  hour  in 
this  way.  Meantime,  thunder-clouds  were  coming 
up  rapidly  from  the  west,  and  the  sun  was  near  its 
setting.  After  much  consultation,  and  an  assurance 
having  been  obtained  from  the  captain  that  we 


14  ECONOMY. 

might  command  the  boat  at  any  hour  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  decided  that  Dr.  F.  and  Charley  should  go 
ashore,  and  deliver  our  letters,  and  accept  any  ar- 
rangements that  might  be  offered  for  our  seeing 
the  best  of  the  scenery  in  the  morning. 

Scarcely  any  one  was  left  in  the  ship  but  Mrs. 
F.  and  myself.  We  sat  on  deck,  and  gazed  as  if 
this  were  to  be  the  last  use  we  were  ever  to  have 
of  our  eyes.  There  was  growling  thunder  now, 
and  the  church  bell,  and  Charley's  clear  voice  from 
afar :  the  waters  were  so  still.  The  Indians  lighted 
a  fire  before  their  lodge ;  and  we  saw  their  shining 
red  forms  as  they  bent  over  the  blaze.  We 
watched  Dr.  F.  and  Charley  mounting  to  the  gar- 
rison; we  saw  them  descend  again  with  the  com- 
manding officer,  and  go  to  the  house  of  the  Indian 
agent.  Then  we  traced  them  along  the  shore,  and 
into  the  Indian  lodge;  then  to  the  church;  then 
the  parting  with  the  commandant  on  the  shore,  and 
lastly,  the  passage  of  the  dark  boat  to  our  ship's 
side.  Thsy  brought  news  that  the  commandant 
and  his  family  would  be  on  the  watch  for  us  before 
five  in  the  morning,  and  be  our  guides  to  as  much 
of  the  island  as  the  captain  would  allow  us  time  to 
see. 

Some  pretty  purchases  of  Indian  manufactures 
were  brought  on  board  this  evening ;  light  matting 
of  various  colours,  and  small  baskets  of  birch-bark, 


ECONOMY.  15 

embroidered  with  porcupine-quills,  and  filled  with 
maple  sugar. 

The  next  morning  all  was  bright  At  five 
o'clock  we  descended  the  ship's  side,  and  from  the 
boat  could  see  the  commandant  and  his  dog  hast- 
ening down  from  the  garrison  to  the  landing-place. 
We  returned  with  him  up  the  hill,  through  the  bar- 
rack-yard; and  were  joined  by  three  members  of 
his  family  on  the  velvet  green  slope  behind  the 
garrison.  No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  the  charms 
of  this  morning  walk.  We  wound  about  in  a  vast 
shrubbery,  with  ripe  strawberries  under  foot,  wild 
flowers  all  around,  and  scattered  knolls  and  open- 
ing vistas  tempting  curiosity  in  every  direction. 
"  Now  run  up,"  said  the  commandant,  as  we  ar- 
rived at  the  foot  of  one  of  these  knolls.  I  did  so, 
and  was  almost  struck  backwards  by  what  I  saw. 
Below  me  was  the  Natural  Bridge  of  Mackinaw,  of 
which  I  had  heard  frequent  mention.  It  is  a  lime- 
stone arch,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high 
in  the  centre,  with  a  span  of  fifty  feet;  one  pillar 
resting  on  a  rocky  projection  in  the  lake,  the  other 
on  the  hill.  We  viewed  it  from  above,  so  that  the 
horizon  line  of  the  lake  fell  behind  the  bridge,  and 
the  blue  expanse  of  waters  filled  the  entire  arch. 
Birch  and  ash  grew  around  the  bases  of  the  pillars, 
and  shrubbery  tufted  the  sides,  and  dangled  from 
the  bridge.  The  soft  rich  hues  in  which  the  whole 


16  ECONOMY. 

was  dressed  seemed  borrowed  from   the   autumn 
sky. 

But  even  this  scene  was  nothing  to  one  we 
saw  from  the  fort,  on  the  crown  of  the  island  ;  old 
Fort  Holmes,  called  Fort  George  when  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  British.  I  can  compare  it  to  nothing 
but  to  what  Noah  might  have  seen,  the  first  bright 
morning  after  the  deluge.  Such  a  cluster  of  little  pa- 
radises rising  out  of  such  a  congregation  of  waters, 
I  can  hardly  fancy  to  have  been  seen  elsewhere. 
The  capacity  of  the  human  eye  seems  here  sud- 
denly enlarged,  as  if  it  could  see  to  the  verge  of 
the  watery  creation.  Blue,  level  waters  appear  to 
expand  for  thousands  of  miles  in  every  direction  ; 
wholly  unlike  any  aspect  of  the  sea.  Cloud  sha- 
dows, and  specks  of  white  vessels,  at  rare  intervals, 
alone  diversify  it.  Bowery  islands  rise  out  of  it; 
bowery  promontories  stretch  down  into  it ;  while  at 
one's  feet  lies  the  melting  beauty  which  one  almost 
fears  will  vanish  in  its  softness  before  one's  eyes ; 
the  beauty  of  the  shadowy  dells  and  sunny  mounds, 
with  browsing  cattle,  and  springing  fruit  and  flowers. 
Thus,  and  no  otherwise,  would  I  fain  think  did  the 
world  emerge  from  the  flood.  I  was  never  before 
so  unwilling  to  have  objects  named.  The  essential 
unity  of  the  scene  seemed  to  be  marred  by  any  dis- 
tinction of  its  parts.  But  this  feeling,  to  me  new, 
did  not  alter  the  state  of  the  case ;  that  it  was  Lake 


ECONOMY.  1 7 

Huron  that  we  saw  stretching  to  the  eastward; 
Lake  Michigan  opening  to  the  west ;  the  island  of 
Bois  Blanc,  green  to  the  brink  in  front ;  and  Round 
Island  and  others  interspersed.  I  stood  now  at 
the  confluence  of  those  great  northern  lakes,  the 
very  names  of  which  awed  my  childhood ;  calling 
up,  as  they  did,  images  of  the  fearful  red  man  of 
the  deep  pine-forest,  and  the  music  of  the  moaning 
winds,  imprisoned  beneath  the  ice  of  winter.  How 
different  from  the  scene,  as  actually  beheld,  dressed 
in  verdure,  flowers,  and  the  sunshine  of  a  summer's 
morning  ! 

It  was  breakfast-time  when  we  descended  to  the 
barracks;  and  we  despatched  a  messenger  to  the 
captain  to  know  whether  we  might  breakfast  with 
the  commandant.  We  sat  in  the  piazza,  and  over- 
looked the  village,  the  harbour,  the  straits,  and  the 
white  beach,  where  there  were  now  four  Indian  lodges. 
The  island  is  so  healthy  that,  according  to  the 
commandant,  people  who  want  to  die  must  go 
somewhere  else.  I  saw  only  three  tombstones  in 
the  cemetery.  The  commandant  has  lost  but  one 
man  since  he  has  been  stationed  at  Mackinaw ; 
and  that  was  by  drowning.  I  asked  about  the  cli- 
mate; the  answer  was,  "  We  have  nine  months 
winter,  and  three  months  cold  weather." 

It  would  have  been  a  pity  to  have  missed  the 
breakfast  at  the  garrison,  which  afforded  a  strong 
contrast  with  any  we  had  seen  for  a  week.  We 


18  ECONOMY. 

concealed,  as  well  as  we  could,  our  glee  at  the 
appearance  of  the  rich  cream,  the  new  bread  and 
butter,  fresh  lake  trout,  and  pile  of  snowwhite 


There  is  reason  to  think  that  the  mission  is  the 
least  satisfactory  part  of  the  establishment  on  this 
island.  A  great  latitude  of  imagination  or  repre- 
sentation is  usually  admitted  on  the  subject  of  mis- 
sions to  the  heathen.  The  reporters  of  this  one 
appear  to  be  peculiarly  imaginative.  I  fear  that 
the  common  process  has  here  been  gone  through 
of  attempting  to  take  from  the  savage  the  venerable 
and  the  true  which  he  possessed,  and  to  force  upon 
him  something  else  which  is  to  him  neither  vener- 
able nor  true. 

The  Indians  have  been  proved,  by  the  success  of 
the  French  among  them,  to  be  capable  of  civilisa- 
tion. Near  Little  Traverse,  in  the  north-west  part 
of  Michigan,  within  easy  reach  of  Mackinaw,  there 
is  an  Indian  village,  full  of  orderly  and  industrious 
inhabitants,  employed  chiefly  in  agriculture.  The 
English  and  Americans  have  never  succeeded  with 
the  aborigines  so  well  as  the  French ;  and  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  the  clergy  have  been  a  much 
greater  blessing  to  them  than  the  traders. 

It  was  with  great  regret  that  we  parted  with  the 
commandant  and  his  large  young  family,  and  step- 
ped into  the  boat  to  return  to  the  ship.  The  cap- 
tain looked  a  little  grave  upon  the  delay  which  all 


ECONOMY.  19 

his  passengers  had  helped  to  achieve.  We  sailed 
about  nine.  We  were  in  great  delight  at  having 
seen  Mackinaw,  at  having  the  possession  of  its  sin- 
gular imagery  for  life :  but  this  delight  was  at  pre- 
sent dashed  with  the  sorrow  of  leaving  it.  I  could 
not  have  believed  how  deeply  it  is  possible  to  re- 
gret a  place,  after  so  brief  an  acquaintance  with  it. 
We  watched  the  island  as  we  rapidly  receded, 
trying  to  catch  the  aspect  of  it  which  had  given  it 
its  name — the  Great  Turtle.  Its  flag  first  va- 
nished :  then  its  green  terraces  and  slopes,  its  white 
barracks,  and  dark  promontories  faded,  till  the 
whole  disappeared  behind  a  headland  and  light- 
house of  the  Michigan  shore. 

Lake  Huron  was  squally,  as  usual.  Little  re- 
markable happened  while  we  traversed  it.  We  en- 
joyed the  lake  trout.  We  occasionally  saw  the 
faint  outline  of  the  Manitouline  Islands  and  Ca- 
nada. We  saw  a  sunset  which  looked  very  like 
the  general  conflagration  having  begun :  the  whole 
western  sky  and  water  being  as  if  of  red  flame  and 
molten  lead.  This  was  succeeded  by  paler  fires. 
A  yellow  planet  sank  into  the  heaving  waters  to 
the  south ;  and  the  northern  lights  opened  like  a 
silver  wheat-sheaf,  and  spread  themselves  half  over 
the  sky.  It  is  luxury  to  sail  on  Lake  Huron,  and 
watch  the  northern  lights. 

On  the  7th   we  were  only  twenty  miles  from 


20  ECONOMY. 

the  river  St.  Clair :  but  the  wind  was  "  right 
ahead,"  and  we  did  not  reach  the  mouth  of  the 
river  till  the  evening  of  the  8th.  The  approach 
and  entrance  kept  us  all  in  a  state  of  high  excite- 
ment, from  the  captain  down  to  Charley.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  8th,  Fort  Gratiot  and  the  narrow 
mouth  of  the  St.  Clair,  became  visible.  Our  scope 
for  tacking  grew  narrower,  every  turn.  The  cap- 
tain did  not  come  to  dinner ;  he  kept  the  lead  going 
incessantly.  Two  vessels  were  trying  with  us  for 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  American  schooner 
got  in  first,  from  being  the  smallest.  The  British 
vessel  and  ours  contested  the  point  stoutly  for  a 
long  while,  sweeping  round  and  crossing  Bach  other, 
much  as  if  they  were  dancing  a  minuet.  A  squall 
came,  and  broke  one  of  our  chains,  and  our  rival 
beat  us.  In  the  midst  of  the  struggle,  we  could 
not  but  observe  that  the  sky  was  black  as  night  to 
windward;  and  that  the  captain  cast  momentary 
glances  thither,  as  if  calculating  how  soon  he  must 
make  all  tight  for  the  storm.  The  British  vessel 
was  seen  to  have  come  to  an  anchor.  Our  sails 
were  all  taken  in,  our  anchor  dropped,  and  a  grim 
silence  prevailed.  The  waters  were  flat  as  ice 
about  the  ship.  The  next  moment,  the  sky-organ 
began  to  blow  in  our  rigging.  Fort  Gratiot  was 
blotted  out ;  then  the  woods  ;  then  the  other  ship  ; 
then  came  the  orderly  march  of  the  rain  over  the 


ECONOMY.  21 

myrtle-green  waters ;  then  the  storm  seized  us. 
We  could  scarcely  see  each  others'  faces,  except 
for  the  lightning ;  the  ship  groaned,  and  dragged 
her  anchor,  so  that  a  second  was  dropped. 

In  twenty  minutes,  the  sun  gilded  the  fort,  the 
woods,  and  the  green,  prairie-like,  Canada  shore. 
On  the  verge  of  this  prairie,  under  the  shelter  of  the 
forest,  an  immense  herd  of  wild  horses  were  seen 
scampering,  and  whisking  their  long  tails.  A  cloud 
of  pigeons,  in  countless  thousands,  was  shadowing 
alternately  the  forests,  the  lake,  and  the  prairie ; 
and  an  extensive  encampment  of  wild  Indians  was 
revealed  on  the  Michigan  shore.  It  was  a  dark 
curtain  lifted  up  on  a  scene  of  wild  and  singular 
beauty. 

Then  we  went  to  the  anxious  work  of  tacking 
again.  We  seemed  to  be  running  aground  on 
either  shore,  as  we  approached  each.  Our  motions 
were  watched  by  several  gazers.  On  the  Canada 
side,  there  were  men  on  the  sands,  and  in  a  canoe, 
with  a  sail  which  looked  twice  as  big  as  ^the  bark. 
The  keepers  of  the  Gratiot  light-house  looked  out 
from  the  lantern.  A  party  of  squaws,  in  the  In- 
dian encampment,  seated  on  the  sands,  stopped 
their  work  of  cleaning  fish,  to  see  how  we  got 
through  the  rapids.  A  majestic  personage,  his 
arms  folded  in  his  blanket,  stood  on  an  eminence 
in  the  midst  of  the  camp ;  and  behind  him,  on  the 


22  ECONOMY. 

brow  of  the  hill,  were  groups  of  unclothed  boys 
and  men,  looking  so  demon-like,  as  even  in  that 
scene  to  remind  me  of  the  great  staircase  in  the 
ballet  of  Faust.  Our  ship  twisted  round  and  round 
in  the  eddies,  as  helplessly  as  a  log,  and  stuck,  at 
last,  with  her  stern  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the 
Indians.  Nothing  more  could  be  done  that  night. 
We  dropped  anchor,  and  hoped  the  sailors  would 
have  good  repose  after  two  days  of  tacking  to 
achieve  a  progress  of  twenty  miles.  Two  or  three 
of  them  went  ashore,  to  try  to  get  milk.  While 
they  were  gone,  a  party  of  settlers  stood  on  the 
high  bank,  to  gaze  at  us ;  and  we  were  sorry  to  see 
them,  even  down  to  the  little  children,  whisking 
boughs  without  ceasing.  This  was  a  threat  of 
mosquitoes  which  was  not  to  be  mistaken.  When 
the  sailors  returned,  they  said  we  were  sure  to 
have  a  good  watch  kept,  for  the  mosquitoes  would 
let  no  one  sleep.  We  tried  to  shut  up  our  cabin 
from  them ;  but  they  were  already  there ;  and  I, 
for  one,  was  answerable  for  many  murders  before 
I  closed  my  eyes.  In  the  twilight,  I  observed 
something  stirring  on  the  high  bank ;  and  on  look- 
ing closely,  saw  a  party  of  Indians,  stepping  along, 
in  single  file,  under  the  shadow  of  the  wood.  Their 
simplest  acts  are  characteristic ;  and,  in  their  wild 
state,  I  never  saw  them  without  thinking  of  ghosts 
or  demons. 


ECONOMY.  23 

In  the  morning,  I  found  we  were  floating  down 
the  current,  stern  foremost,  frequently  swinging 
round  in  the  eddies,  so  as  to  touch  the  one  shore 
or  the  other.  There  seemed  to  be  no  intermission 
of  settlers'  houses ;  all  at  regular  distances  along 
the  bank.  The  reason  of  this  appearance  is  a  good 
old  French  arrangement,  by  which  the  land  is  di- 
vided into  long,  narrow  strips,  that  each  lot  may 
have  a  water  frontage.  We  wrere  evidently  re- 
turning to  a  well-settled  country.  The  more  com- 
fortable houses  on  the  Canada  side  were  surrounded 
by  spacious  and  thriving  fields:  the  poorer  by 
dreary  enclosures  of  swamp.  We  saw  a  good  garden, 
with  a  white  paling.  Cows  were  being  milked. 
Cow-bells,  and  the  merry  voices  of  singing  chil- 
dren, were  heard  from  under  the  clumps ;  and  piles 
of  wood  for  the  steam-boats,  and  large  stocks  of 
shingles  for  roofing  were  laid  up  on  either  hand. 
The  Gratiot  steamer  puffed  away  under  the  Mi- 
chigan bank.  Canoes  shot  across  in  a  streak  of 
light ;  and  a  schooner  came  down  the  clear  river, 
as  if  on  the  wing  between  the  sky  and  the  water. 
I  watched  two  horsemen  on  the  shore,  for  many 
miles,  tracing  the  bay  pony  and  the  white  horse 
through  the  woody  screen,  and  over  the  brooks, 
and  along  the  rickety  bridges.  I  could  see  that 
they  were  constantly  chatting,  and  that  they  stopped 
to  exchange  salutations  with  every  one  they  met  or 


24  ECONOMY. 

overtook.  These,  to  be  sure,  were  few  enough.  I 
was  quite  sorry  when  the  twilight  drew  on,  and 
hid  them  from  me.  I  saw  a  little  boy  on  a  log, 
with  a  paddle,  pushing  himself  off  from  a  bank  of 
wild  roses,  and  making  his  way  in  the  sunshine,  up 
the  river.  It  looked  very  pretty,  and  very  unsafe ; 
but  I  dare  say  he  knew  best.  The  captain  and 
mate  were  both  ill  to-day.  The  boat  was  sent 
ashore  for  what  could  be  had.  The  men  made 
haste,  and  rowed  bravely ;  but  we  were  carried 
down  four  miles  before  we  could  "  heave  to,"  for 
them  to  overtake  us.  They  brought  brandy  for 
the  captain;  and  for  us,  butter  just  out  of  the 
churn.  The  mosquitoes  again  drove  us  from  the 
deck,  soon  after  dark. 

The  next  morning,  the  10th,  the  deck  was  in 
great  confusion.  The  captain  was  worse:  the 
mate  was  too  ill  to  command;  and  the  second  mate 
seemed  to  be  more  efficient  in  swearing,  and  getting 
the  men  to  swear,  than  at  anything  else.  After 
breakfast,  there  was  a  search  made  after  a  pilferer, 
who  had  abstracted  certain  small  articles  from  our 
cabin ;  among  which  was  Charley's  maple-sugar 
basket,  which  had  been  seen  in  the  wheel-house, 
with  a  tea-spoon  in  it.  This  seemed  to  point  out 
one  of  the  juniors  in  the  forecastle  as  the  offender; 
the  steward,  however,  offered  to  clear  himself  by- 
taking  an  oath,  "  on  a  bible  as  big  as  the  ship," 


ECONOMY.  25 

that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  matter.  As  we  did 
not  happen  to  have  such  a  bible  on  board,  we  could 
not  avail  ourselves  of  his  offer,  A  comb  and  tooth- 
brush, which  had  been  missing,  were  found,  restored 
to  their  proper  places :  but  Charley's  pretty  basket 
was  seen  no  more. 

It  was  a  comfortless  day.  We  seemed  within 
easy  reach  of  Detroit ;  but  the  little  wind  we  had 
was  dead  ahead ;  the  sun  was  hot ;  the  mosquitoes 
abounded ;  the  captain  was  downcast,  and  the  pas- 
sengers cross.  There  was  some  amusement,  how- 
ever. Dr.  F.  went  ashore,  and  brought  us  milk,  of 
which  we  each  had  a  draught  before  it  turned  sour. 
He  saw  on  shore  a  sight  which  is  but  too  common. 
An  hotel-keeper  let  an  Indian  get  drunk ;  and  then 
made  a  quarrel  between  him  and  another,  for  selfish 
purposes.  The  whites  seem  to  have  neither  honour 
nor  mercy  towards  the  red  men. 

A  canoe  full  of  Indians, — two  men  and  four  chil- 
dren,— came  alongside,  this  afternoon,  to  offer  to 
traffic.  They  had  no  clothing  but  a  coarse  shirt 
each.  The  smallest  child  had  enormous  ear- 
ornaments  of  blue  and  white  beads.  They  were 
closely  packed  in  their  canoe,  which  rocked 
with  every  motion.  They  sold  two  large  baskets 
for  a  quarter  dollar  and  two  loaves  of  bread. 
Their  faces  were  intelligent,  and  far  from  so- 
lemn. The  children  look  merry,  as  children 

VOL.    II.  C 


26  ECONOMY. 

should.  I  saw  others  fishing  afar  off,  till  long  after 
dark.  A  dusky  figure  stood,  in  a  splendid  attitude, 
at  the  bow  of  a  canoe,  and  now  paddled  with  one 
end  of  his  long  lance,  now  struck  at  a  fish  with  the 
other.  He  speared  his  prey  directly  through  the 
middle ;  and  succeeded  but  seldom.  At  dark,  a 
pine  torch  was  held  over  the  water;  and  by  its 
blaze,  I  could  still  see  something  of  his  opera- 
tions. 

The  groaning  of  our  ship's  timbers  told  us,  before 
we  rose,  that  we  were  in  rapid  motion.  The  wind 
was  fair ;  and  we  were  likely  to  reach  Detroit,  forty 
miles,  to  dinner.  Lake  St.  Clair,  with  its  placid 
waters  and  low  shores,  presents  nothing  to  look  at. 
The  captain  was  very  ill,  and  unable  to  leave  his 
berth.  No  one  on  board  knew  the  channel  of  the 
Detroit  river  but  himself;  and,  from  the  time  we 
entered  it,  the  lead  was  kept  going.  When  we 
were  within  four  miles  of  Detroit,  hungry,  hot, 
tired  of  the  disordered  ship,  and  thinking  of  friends, 
breezes,  and  a  good  dinner  at  the  city,  we  went 
aground, — grinding,  grinding,  till  the  ship  trem- 
bled in  every  timber.  The  water  was  so  shallow 
that  one  might  have  touched  the  gravel  on  either 
side  witb  a  walking-stick.  There  was  no  hope  of 
our  being  got  off  speedily.  The  cook  applied  him- 
self to  chopping  wood,  in  order  to  lighting  a  fire, 
in  order  to  baking  some  bread,  in  order  to  give  us 


ECONOMY.  27 

something  to  eat ;  for  not  a  scrap  of  meat,  or  an 
ounce  of  biscuit,  was  left  on  board. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  our  party  might  reach  the 
city,  either  by  paying  high  for  one  of  the  ship's 
boats,  or  by  getting  the  mate  to  hail  one  of  the 
schooners  that  were  in  the  river.  The  boats  could 
not  be  spared.  The  mate  hoisted  a  signal  for  a 
schooner ;  and  one  came  alongside,  very  fully  laden 
with  shingles.  Fifteen  of  us,  passengers,  with  our 
luggage,  were  piled  on  the  top  of  the  cargo,  and 
sailed  gently  up  to  the  city.  The  captain  was  too 
ill,  and  the  mate  too  full  of  vexation,  to  bid  us  fare- 
well; and  thus  we  left  our  poor  ship.  We  were 
glad,  however,  to  pass  her  in  the  river,  the  next 
day,  and  to  find  that  she  had  been  got  off  the  shoal 
before  night. 

As  we  drew  near,  Charley,  in  all  good  faith, 
hung  out  his  little  handkerchief  to  show  the  people 
of  Detroit  that  we  were  come  back.  They  did  not 
seem  to  know  us,  however.  "  What !"  cried  some 
men  on  a  raft,  to  the  master  of  our  schooner, 
"  have  you  been  robbing  a  steam-boat?"  "  No," 
replied  the  master,  gravely ;  "  it  is  a  boat  that  has 
gone  to  the  bottom  in  the  lakes."  We  expected 
that  some  stupendous  alarm  would  arise  out  of  this. 
When  we  reached  New  York,  a  fortnight  after,  we 
found  that  our  friends  there  had  been  made  uneasy 
by  the  news  that  a  steam-boat  had  sunk  on  the 

c2 


28  ECONOMY. 

Lakes,  and  that  eight  hundred  passengers  were 
drowned.  Catastrophes  grow  as  fast  as  other  things 
in  America. 

Though  our  friends  did  not  happen  to  see  Char- 
ley's pocket-handkerchief  from  the  river,  they  were 
soon  about  us,  congratulating  us  on  having  made 
the  circuit  of  the  Lakes.  It  was  indeed  matter  of 
congratulation. 

I  have  now  given  sketches  of  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  parts  of  the  country,  hoping  that  a  pretty 
distinct  idea  might  thus  be  afforded  of  their  primary 
resources,  and  of  the  modes  of  life  of  their  inha- 
bitants. I  have  said  nothing  of  the  towns,  in  this 
connexion;  town-life  in  America  having  nothing 
very  peculiar  about  it,  viewed  in  the  way  of  general 
survey.  The  several  departments  of  industry  will 
now  be  particularly  considered. 


CHAPTER    I. 
AGRICULTURE. 

"  Plus  un  peuple  nombreux  se  rapproche,  moins  le  gouverne- 
ment  peut  usurper  sur  le  Souverain.  L'avantage  d'un  gouverne- 
ment  tyrannique  est  done  en  ceci,  d'agir  a  grandes  distances.  A 
1'aide  des  points  d'appui  qu'il  se  donne,  sa  force  augmente  au  loin, 
comme  celle  des  leViers.  Celle  du  peuple,  au  contraire,  n'agit 
que  concentree  :  elle  s'evapore  et  se  perd  en  s'etendant,  comme 
1'effet  de  la  poudre  eparse  a  terre,  et  qui  ne  prend  feu  que  grain 
a  grain.  Les  pays  les  moins  peuples  sont  ainsi  les  plus  propres 
a  la  tyrannie.  Les  betes  feroces  ne  jregnent  que  dans  les 
deserts." 

Rousseau. 

THE  pride  and  delight  of  Americans  is  in  their 
quantity  of  land.  I  do  not  remember  meeting  with 
one  to  whom  it  had  occurred  that  they  had  too 
much.  Among  the  many  complaints  of  the  minority, 
this  was  never  one.  I  saw  a  gentleman  strike  his 
fist  on  the  table  in  an  agony  at  the  country  being  so 
"  confoundedly  prosperous  :"  I  heard  lamentations 


30  AGRICULTURE. 

over  the  spirit  of  speculation;  the  migration  of 
young  men  to  the  back  country;  the  fluctuating 
state  of  society  from  the  incessant  movement  west- 
wards ;  the  immigration  of  labourers  from  Europe  ; 
and  the  ignorance  of  the  sparse  population.  All 
these  grievances  I  heard  perpetually  complained  of; 
but  in  the  same  breath  I  was  told  in  triumph  of  the 
rapid  sales  of  land ;  of  the  glorious  additions  which 
had  been  made  by  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  and 
Florida,  and  of  the  probable  gain  of  Texas.  Land 
was  spoken  of  as  the  unfailing  resource  against 
over  manufacture ;  the  great  wealth  of  the  nation ; 
the  grand  security  of  every  man  in  it. 

On  this  head,  the  two  political  parties  seem  to  be 
more  agreed  than  on  any  other.  The  federalists 
are  the  great  patrons  of  commerce ;  but  they  are 
as  proud  of  the  national  lands  as  the  broadest  of 
the  democrats.  The  democrats,  however,  may  be 
regarded  as  the  patrons  of  agriculture,  out  of  the 
slave  States.  There  seems  to  be  a  natural  relation 
between  the  independence  of  property  and  occupa- 
tion enjoyed  by  the  agriculturist,  and  his  watchful- 
ness over  State  Rights  and  the  political  importance 
of  individuals.  The  simplicity  of  country  life,  too, 
appears  more  congenial  with  the  workings  of  de- 
mocratic institutions,  than  the  complex  arrange- 
ments of  commerce  and  manufactures. 

The  possession  of  land  is  the  aim  of  all  action, 


AGRICULTURE.  31 

generally  speaking,  and  the  cure  for  all  social  evils, 
among  men  in  the  United  States.  If  a  man  is  dis- 
appointed in  politics  or  love,  he  goes  and  buys  land. 
If  he  disgraces  himself,  he  betakes  himself  to  a  lot  in 
the  west  If  the  demand  for  any  article  of  manu- 
facture slackens,  the  operatives  drop  into  the  un- 
settled lands.  If  a  citizen's  neighbours  rise  above 
him  in  the  towns,  he  betakes  himself  where  he  can 
be  monarch  of  all  he  surveys.  An  artisan  works, 
that  he  may  die  on  land  of  his  own.  He  is  frugal, 
that  he  may  enable  his  son  to  be  a  landowner. 
Farmers'  daughters  go  into  factories  that  they  may 
clear  off  the  mortgage  from  their  fathers'  farms ; 
that  they  may  be  independent  landowners  again. 
All  this  is  natural  enough  in  a  country  colonised 
from  an  old  one,  where  land  is  so  restricted  in 
quantity  as  to  be  apparently  the  same  thing  as 
wealth.  It  is  natural  enough  in  a  young  republic, 
where  independence  is  of  the  highest  political  value. 
It  is  natural  enough  in  a  country  where  political 
economy  has  never  been  taught  by  its  only  effec- 
tual propounder — social  adversity.  And,  finally, 
it  falls  out  well  for  the  old  world,  in  prospect  of 
the  time  when  the  new  world  must  be  its  granary. 

The  democratic  party  are  fond  of  saying  that  the 
United  States  are  intended  to  be  an  agricultural 
country.  It  seems  to  me  that  they  are  intended  to 
be  everything.  The  Niagara  basin,  the  Mississippi 


32  AGRICULTURE. 

valley,  and  the  South,  will  be  able  to  furnish  the 
trading  world  with  agricultural  products  for  ever,— 
for  aught  we  can  see.  But  it  is  clear  that  there 
are  other  parts  of  the  country  which  must  have 
recourse  to  manufactures  and  commerce. 

The  first  settlers  in  New  England  got  land,  and 
thought  themselves  rich.  Their  descendants  have 
gone  on  to  do  the  same ;  and  they  now  find  them- 
selves poor.  With  the  exception  of  some  South- 
erners, ruined  by  slavery,  who  cannot  live  within 
their  incomes,  I  met  with  no  class  in  the  United 
States  so  anxious  about  the  means  of  living  as  the 
farmers  of  New  England.  In  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, curious  purchases  of  land  were  made,  and 
the  fathers  were  wealthy.  In  those  days,  a  certain 
farmer  Dexter  bought  the  promontory  of  Nahant, 
which  stretches  out  into  Massachusetts  Bay,  of 
Black  Willey,  an  Indian  chief,  for  a  suit  of  clothes ; 
the  part  of  the  promontory  called  Great  Nahant 
measuring  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circuit.  Others, 
who  held  land  in  similar  or  larger  quantities,  di- 
vided it  equally  among  their  children,  whose  por- 
tions had  not  been  subdivided  below  the  point  of 
comfort,  when  the  great  west  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  commerce  of  the  seas  on  the  other,  opened  new 
resources.  From  this  time,  the  consolidation  of 
estates  has  gone  on,  nearly  as  fast  as  the  previous 
division.  The  members  of  a  family  dispose  of  their 


AGRICULTURE.  33 

portions  of  land  to  one,  and  go  to  seek  better 
fortunes  elsewhere  than  the  rocky  soil  of  New 
England  can  afford.  Still,  while  the  population 
of  Massachusetts  is  scarcely  above  half  that  of 
London,  its  number  of  landowners  is  greater  than 
that  of  all  England. 

The  Massachusetts  farmers  were  the  first  to  de- 
cline ;  but  now  the  comparative  adversity  of  agri- 
culture has  extended  even  into  Vermont.  A  few 
years  ago,  lenders  of  money  into  Vermont  received 
thirty  per  cent,  interest  from  farmers :  now  they 
are  glad  to  get  six  per  cent. ;  and  this  does  not  arise 
from  the  farmers  having  saved  capital  of  their  own. 
They  have  but  little  property  besides  their  land. 
Their  daughters,  and  even  their  sons,  resort  to  do- 
mestic service  in  Boston  for  a  living.  Boston  used 
to  be  supplied  from  Vermont  with  fowls,  butter,  and 
eggs :  but  the  supply  has  nearly  ceased.  This  is 
partly  owing  to  an  increased  attention  to  the  growth 
of  wool  for  the  manufacturers ;  but  partly  also  to 
the  decrease  of  capital  and  enterprise  among  the 
farmers, 

In  Massachusetts  the  farmers  have  so  little  pro- 
perty besides  their  land,  that  they  are  obliged  to 
mortgage  when  they  want  to  settle  a  son  or  daughter, 
or  make  up  for  a  deficient  crop.  The  great  Insur- 
ance Company  at  Boston  is  the  formidable  creditor 
to  many.  This  Company  will  not  wait  a  day  for 

c  5 


34  AGRICULTURE. 

the  interest  If  it  is  not  ready,  loss  or  ruin  ensues. 
Many  circumstances  are  now  unfavourable  to  the 
old-fashioned  Massachusetts  farmer.  Domestic 
manufactures,  which  used  to  employ  the  daughters, 
are  no  longer  worth  while,  in  the  presence  of  the 
factories.  The  young  men,  who  should  be  the 
daughters'  husbands,  go  off  to  the  west  The  idea 
of  domestic  service  is  not  liked.  There  is  an  ex- 
pensive family  at  home,  without  sufficient  employ- 
ment ;  and  they  may  be  considered  poor.  These 
are  evils  which  may  be  shaken  off  any  day.  I  speak 
of  them,  not  as  demanding  much  compassion,  but 
as  indicating  a  change  in  the  state  of  affairs ;  and 
especially  that  New  England  is  designed  to  be  a 
manufacturing  and  commercial  region.  It  is  already 
common  to  see  agriculture  joined  with  other  employ- 
ments. The  farmers  of  the  coast  are,  naturally, 
fishermen  also.  They  bring  home  fish,  manure  their 
land  with  the  offal ;  sow  their  seed,  and  go  out  again 
to  fish  while  it  is  growing.  Shoemaking  is  now 
joined  with  farming.  In  the  long  winter  evenings, 
all  the  farmers'  families  around  Lynn  are  busy  shoe- 
making  ;  and  in  the  spring,  they  turn  out  into  the 
fields  again.  The  largest  proportion  of  factory 
girls  too  is  furnished  by  country  families. 

The  traveller  may  see,  by  merely  passing  through 
the  country,  without  asking  information,  how  far 
New  England  ought  to  be  an  agricultural  country, 


AGRICUTLURE.  35 

if  the  object  of  its  society  be  to  secure  the  comfort 
of  its  members,  rather  than  the  continuance  of  old 
customs.     The  valleys,  like  that  of  the  Connecticut 
river,    whose   soil   is   kept  rich  by  annual   inun- 
dations, and  whose  fields  have  no  fences,  gladden 
the  eye  of  the  observer.     So  it  is  with  particular 
spots  elsewhere,  where,  it  may  be  remarked,  the 
fences  are  of  the  ordinary,  slovenly  kind,  and  too 
much  care  does  not  seem  to  have  been  bestowed 
on  the  arrangements  and  economy  of  the  estate. 
Elsewhere,  may  be  seen  stony  fields,  plots  of  the 
greenest  pasture,  with  grey  rocks  standing  up  in 
the  midst,  and  barberry  bushes  sprinkled  all  about: 
trim  orchards,  and  fences  on  which  a  great  deal  of 
spare  time  must  have  been  bestowed.     Instead  of 
the  ugly,  hasty  snake- fence,  there  is  a  neatly  built 
wall,  composed  of  the  stones  which  had  strewed  the 
fields :  sometimes  the  neatest  fence  of  all ;  a  wall  of 
stones  and  sods,  regularly  laid,  with  a  single  rail 
along  the  top :  sometimes  a  singular  fence,  which 
would  be  perfect,  but  for  the  expense  of  labour  re- 
quired; roots  of  trees,  washed  from  the  soil,  and 
turned  side  upwards,  presenting  a  complete  che- 
vaux-de-frise,  needing  no  mending,  and  lasting  the 
"  for  ever"  of  this  world.    About  these  farm-houses, 
a  profusion  of  mignonette  may  be  seen ;  and  in 
the  season,  the  rich  major  convolvulus,  or  scarlet 
runners,  climbing  up  to  the  higher  windows.     The 


.36  AGRICULTURE. 

dove-cotes  are  well  looked  to.  There  has  evidently 
been  time  and  thought  for  everything.  This  is  all 
very  pretty  to  look  at, — even  bewitching  to  those 
who  do  not  see  beneath  the  surface,  nor  know  that 
hearts  may  be  aching  within  doors  about  perilous 
mortgages,  and  the  fate  of  single  daughters ;  but,  it 
being  known  that  such  worldly  anxieties  do  exist, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  these  are  the  places 
in  which  they  abide. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  knowledge  of  the  difficulty 
on  the  spot ;  but  not  always  a  clear  view  of  coming 
events,  which  include  a  remedy.  The  commonest 
way  of  venting  any  painful  sensibility  on  the  sub- 
ject, is  declamation  against  luxury;  or  rather, 
against  the  desire  for  it  in  those  who  are  supposed 
unable  to  afford  it.  This  will  do  no  good.  If  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  themselves  had  had  luxury  before 
their  eyes,  they  would  have  desired  to  have  it ;  and 
they  would  have  been  right.  Luxury  is,  in  itself, 
a  great  good.  Luxury  is  delicious  fare, — of  any 
and  every  kind  :  and  He  who  bestowed  it  meant  all 
men  to  have  it.  The  evil  of  luxury  is  in  its  restric- 
tion ;  in  its  being  made  a  cause  of  separation  be- 
tween men,  and  a  means  of  encroachment  by  some 
on  the  rights  of  others.  Frugality  is  a  virtue  only 
when  it  is  required  by  justice  and  charity.  Luxury 
is  vicious  only  when  it  is  obtained  by  injustice,  and 
carried  on  into  intemperance.  It  is  a  bad  thing 


AGRICULTURE.  37 

that  a  Massachusetts  farmer  should  mortgage  his 
farm,  in  order  that  his  wife  and  daughters  may  dress 
like  the  ladies  of  Boston  ;  but  the  evil  is  not  in  the 
dress ;  it  is  rather  in  his  clinging  to  a  mode  of  life 
which  does  not  enable  him  to  pay  his  debts.  The 
women  desire  dress,  not  only  because  it  is  becom- 
ing, but  because  they  revolt  from  sinking,  even  out- 
wardly,  into  a  lower  station  of  life  than  they  once 
held  :  and  this  is  more  than  harmless ;  it  is  honour- 
able. What  they  have  to  do  is  to  make  up  their 
minds  to  be  consistent.  They  must  either  go 
down  with  their  farm,  for  love  of  it,  and  the  ways 
which  belong  to  it :  or  they  must  make  a  better 
living  in  some  other  manner.  They  cannot  have 
the  old  farm  and  its  ways,  and  luxury  too.  Nobody 
has  a  right  to  decide  for  them  which  they  ought  to 
choose ;  and  declaiming  against  luxury  will  there- 
fore do  no  good.  It  is,  however,  pretty  clear  which 
they  will  choose,  while  luxury  and  manufacture 
are  growing  before  their  eyes;  and,  in  that  case, 
declaiming  against  luxury  can  do  little  but  harm : 
it  will  only  destroy  sympathy  between  the  declaimers 
and  those  who  may  find  the  cap  fit. 

One  benevolent  lady  strongly  desires  and  advises 
that  manufactures  should  be  put  down ;  and  the 
increased  population  all  sent  away  somewhere,  that 
New  England  may  be  as  primitive  and  sparsely 
peopled  as  in  days  when  it  was,  as  she  supposes, 

303062 


38  AGRICULTURE. 

more  virtuous  than  now.  Whenever  she  can  make 
out  what  virtue  is,  so  as  to  prove  that  New  Eng- 
land was  ever  more  virtuous  than  now,  her  plans 
may  find  hearers;  but  not  till  then.  I  mention 
these  things  merely  to  show  how  confirmed  is  the 
tendency  of  New  England  to  manufactures,  in  pre- 
ference to  agriculture. 

There  is  one  certain  test  of  the  permanent  fitness 
of  any  district  of  country  for  agricultural  purposes ; 
the  settlement  of  any  large  number  of  Germans  in 
it.  The  Germans  give  any  price  for  good  land,  and 
use  it  all.  They  are  much  smiled  at  by  the  viva- 
cious and  enterprising  Americans  for  their  plod- 
ding, their  attachment  to  their  own  methods,  and 
the  odd  direction  taken  by  their  pride.*  The  part 
of  Pennsylvania  where  they  abound  is  called  the 
Bceotia  of  America.  There  is  a  story  current 
against  them  that  they  were  seen  to  parade  with  a 

*  I  might  add  their  matter-of-fact  credulity,  strongly  resembling 
romance.  As  a  specimen  of  the  quizzing  common  with  regard 
to  the  Germans,  I  give  an  anecdote.  At  the  time  when  the  strug- 
gle between  Adams  and  Jackson  was  very  close,  a  supporter  of 
Adams  complained  to  Mr.  W.  that  it  was  provoking  that  somebody 
bad  persuaded  the  Germans  in  Pennsylvania  that  Mr.  Adams  had 
married  a  daughter  of  George  III. ;  a  report  which  would  cost 
him  all  their  votes.  Mr.  W.  said,  "  Why  do  not  you  contradict  it  1" 
"  O,"  replied  his  friend,  "  you  know  nothing  of  those  people. 
They  will  believe  everything,  and  unbelieve  nothing.  No  :  in- 
stead of  contradicting  the  report,  we  must  allow  that  Adams  mar» 
ried  a  daughter  of  George  III. ;  but  add  that  Jackson  married  two." 


AGRICULTURE.  39 

banner,  on  which  was  inscribed  "  No  schools,"  when 
the  State  legislature  was  about  establishing  a  school 
system.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  they 
have  good  German  newspapers  prepared  among 
themselves  :  that  their  politics  do  them  high  honour, 
considering  the  very  short  political  education  they 
have  had :  and  that  they  know  more  of  political 
economy  than  their  native  neighbours.  -They  show 
by  their  votes  that  they  understand  the  tariff  and 
bank  questions ;  and  they  are  staunch  supporters 
of  democratic  principles. 

Nothing  can  be  more  thriving  than  the  settle- 
ments of  Germans,  when  they  have  once  been 
brought  into  order.  Their  fields  are  well  fenced  ; 
their  implements  of  the  most  substantial  make; 
and  their  barns  a  real  curiosity.  While  the  family 
of  the  farmer  is  living  in  a  poor  log-house,  or  a 
shabby,  unpainted  frame-house,  the  barn  has  all 
the  pains  of  its  owner  lavished  upon  it.  I  saw 
several,  freshly  painted  with  red,  with  eleven  glass 
windows,  with  Venetian  blinds,  at  each  end,  and 
twelve  in  front.  They  keep  up  the  profitable 
customs  of  their  country.  The  German  women  are 
the  only  women  seen  in  the  fields  and  gardens  in 
America,  except  a  very  few  Dutch,  and  the  slaves 
in  the  south.  The  stores  of  pumpkins,  apples,  and 
onions  in  the  stoup  (piazza)  are  edifying  to  behold. 


40  AGRICULTURE. 

Under  them  sits  the  old  dame  of  the  house,  spin- 
ning at  her  large  wheel ;  and  her  grand-children, 
all  in  grey  homespun,  look  as  busy  as  herself. 

The  German  settlers  always  contrive  to  have  a 
market,  either  by  placing  themselves  near  one,  or 
bestirring  themselves  to  make  one.  They  have  no 
idea  of  sitting  down  in  a  wilderness,  and  growing 
wild  in  it.  A  great  many  of  them  are  market-gar- 
deners near  the  towns.* 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  foresee,  with  distinct- 
ness, the  destination  of  the  southern  States,  east  of 
the  Alleghanies,  when  the  curse  of  slavery  shall  be 
removed.  Up  to  that  period,  continual  deteriora- 
tion is  unavoidable.  Efforts  are  being  made  to 
compensate  for  the  decline  of  agriculture  by  push- 
ing the  interests  of  commerce.  This  is  well;  for 
the  opening  of  every  new  rail-road,  of  every  new 

*  I  heard  some  interesting  facts  about  the  Germans  in  Pennsyl- 
vania from  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  lived  among  them  for  some  time. 
A  fact  regarding  this  gentleman  shows  what  the  obscurity  of 
country  life  in  the  United  States  may  be.  His  estate  was  origi- 
nally in  Virginia.  By  a  new  division,  it  was  thrown  into  the  back 
of  Pennsylvania.  He  ceased  to  be  heard  of,  for  some  years,  in  the 
interval  of  his  engaging  in  public  affairs.  During  this  time,  an 
advertisement  appeared  in  a  newspaper,  asking  for  tidings  of 
"  one  Albert  Gallatin  ;"  and  adding  that  if  he  were  still  living, 
he  might,  on  making  a  certain  application,  hear  of  something  to 
his  advantage. 


AGRICULTURE.  41 

pier,  is  another  blow  given  to  slavery.  The  agri- 
culture of  Virginia  continues  to  decline ;  and  her 
revenue  is  chiefly  derived  from  the  rearing  of  slaves 
as  stock  for  the  southern  market.  In  the  north  and 
west  parts  of  this  State,  where  there  is  more  farming 
than  planting,  it  has  long  been  found  that  slavery  is 
ruinous;  and  when  I  passed  through,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1835,  I  saw  scarcely  any  but  whites,  for  some 
hundreds  of  miles  along  the  road,  except  where  a 
slave  trader  was  carrying  down  to  the  south  the 
remains  that  he  had  bought  up.  Unless  some  new 
resource  is  introduced,  Virginia  will  be  almost  im- 
poverished when  the  traffic  in  slaves  comes  to  an 
end ;  which,  I  have  a  strong  persuasion,  will  be  the 
case  before  very  long.  The  Virginians  themselves 
are,  it  seems,  aware  of  their  case.  I  saw  a  factory  at 
Richmond,  worked  by  black  labour,  which  was 
found,  to  the  surprise  of  those  who  tried  the  expe- 
riment, to  be  of  very  good  quality. 

The  shores  of  the  south,  low  and  shoaly,  are 
unfavourable  to  foreign  commerce.  The  want  of  a 
sufficiency  of  good  harbours  will  probably  impel  the 
inhabitants  of  the  southern  States  to  renew  their 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  merely  confine  themselves 
to  internal  commerce.  The  depression  of  agricul- 
ture is  only  temporary,  I  believe.  It  began  from 
slavery,  and  is  aggravated  by  the  opening  of  the 
rich  virgin  soils  of  the  south-west.  But  the  time 


42  AGRICULTURE. 

will  come  when  improved  methods  of  tillage,  with 
the  advantage  of  free  labour,  will  renew  the  pros- 
perity of  Virginia,  and  North  and  South  Carolina. 
No  mismanagement  short  of  employing  slaves 
will  account  for  the  deterioration  of  the  agricultural 
wealth  of  these  States.  When  the  traveller  ob- 
serves the  quality  of  some  of  the  land  now  under 
cultivation,  he  wonders  how  other  estates  could 
have  been  rendered  so  unprofitable  as  they  are. 
The  rich  Congaree  bottoms,  in  South  Carolina,  look 
inexhaustible ;  but  some  estates,  once  as  fine,  now 
lie  barren  and  deserted.  I  went  over  a  plantation, 
near  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  where  there  were 
four  thousand  acres  within  one  fence,  each  acre 
worth  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  This  land  has  been 
cropped  yearly  with  cotton  since  1794,  and  is  now 
becoming  less  productive  ;  but  it  is  still  very  fine. 
The  cotton  seed  is  occasionally  returned  to  the  soil ; 
and  this  is  the  only  means  of  renovation  used.  Four 
hundred  negroes  work  this  estate.  We  saw  the 
field  trenched,  ready  for  sowing.  The  sowing  is 
done  by  hand,  thick,  and  afterwards  thinned.  I  saw 
the  cotton  elsewhere,  growing  like  twigs.  I  saw 
also  some  in  pod.  There  are  three  or  four  pick- 
ings of  pods  in  a  season ;  of  which  the  first  gather- 
ing is  the  best.  Each  estate  has  its  cotton  press. 
In  the  gin,  the  seed  is  separated  from  the  cotton ; 
and  the  latter  is  pressed  and  packed  for  sale. 


AGRICULTURE.  43 

There  seems  nothing  to  prevent  the  continuance 
or  renovation  of  the  growth  of  this  product,  under 
more  favourable  circumstances.  Whether  the  rice 
swamps  will  have  to  be  given  up,  or  whether  they 
may  be  tilled  by  free  black  labour,  remains  to  be 
seen.  The  Chinese  grow  rice  ;  and  so  do  the  Ita- 
lians, without  the  advantage  of  free  black  labour. 
If,  in  the  worst  case,  the  rice  swamps  should  have 
to  be  relinquished,  the  loss  would  be  more  than  com- 
pensated by  the  improvement  which  would  take 
place  in  the  farming  districts;  land  too  high  for 
planting.  The  western,  mountainous  parts  of  these 
States  would  thus  become  the  most  valuable. 

It  was  amusing  to  hear  the  praises  of  corn  (In- 
dian corn)  in  the  midst  of  the  richest  cotton,  rice, 
and  tobacco  districts.  The  Indian  looks  with  silent 
wonder  upon  the  settler,  who  becomes  visibly  a 
capitalist  in  nine  months,  on  the  same  spot  where 
the  red  man  has  remained  equally  poor,  all  his  life. 
In  February,  both  are  alike  bare  of  all  but  land, 
and  a  few  utensils.  By  the  end  of  the  next  No- 
vember, the  white  settler  has  his  harvest  of  corn ; 
more  valuable  to  him  than  gold  and  silver.  It  will 
procure  him  many  things  which  they  could  not.  A 
man  who  has  corn,  may  have  everything.  He  can 
sow  his  land  with  it ;  and,  for  the  rest,  everything 
eats  corn,  from  slave  to  chick.  Yet,  in  the  midst 
of  so  much  praise  of  corn,  I  found  that  it  cost  a 


44  AGRICULTURE. 

dollar  a  bushel;  that  every  one  was  complaining 
of  the  expenses  of  living ;  that,  so  far  from  mutton 
being  despised,  as  we  have  been  told,  it  was  much 
desired,  but  not  to  be  had ;  and  that  milk  was  a 
great  rarity.  Two  of  us,  in  travelling,  asked  for  a 
draught  of  milk.  We  had  each  a  very  small  tum- 
bler-full, and  were  charged  a  quarter-dollar.  The 
cultivation  of  land  is  as  exclusively  for  exportable 
products,  as  in  the  West  Indies,  in  the  worst  days 
of  their  slavery ;  when  food,  and  even  bricks  for 
building,  were  imported  from  England.  The  total 
absence  of  wise  rural  economy,  under  the  present 
system,  opens  great  hope  of  future  improvement. 
The  forsaken  plantations  are  not  so  exhausted  of 
their  resources  as  it  is  supposed,  from  their  pro- 
ducing little  cotton,  that  they  must  be.  The  de- 
serted fields  may  yet  be  seen,  some  day,  again 
fruitful  in  cotton,  with  corn-fields,  pasturage,  and 
stock,  (not  human,)  flourishing  in  appropriate 
spots. 

Adversity  is  the  best  teacher  of  economy  here,  as 
elsewhere.  In  the  first  flush  of  prosperity,  when  a 
proprietor  sits  down  on  a  rich  virgin  soil,  and  the 
price  of  cotton  is  rising,  he  buys  bacon  and  corn 
for  his  negroes,  and  other  provisions  for  his  family, 
and  devotes  every  rod  of  his  land  to  cotton-growing. 
I  knew  of  one  in  Alabama,  who,  like  his  neigh- 
bours, paid  for  his  land  and  the  maintenance  of 


AGRICULTURE.  45 

his  slaves  with  the  first  crop,  and  had  a  large  sum 
over,  wherewith  to  buy  more  slaves  and  more  land. 
He  paid  eight  thousand  dollars  for  his  land,  and 
all  the  expenses  of  the  establishment,  and  had,  at 
the  end  of  the  season,  eleven  thousand  dollars  in 
the  bank.  It  was  thought,  by  a  wise  friend  of  this 
gentleman's,  that  it  was  a  great  injury,  instead  of 
benefit  to  his  fortune,  that  his  labourers  were  not 
free.  To  use  this  wise  man's  expression,  "it  takes 
two  white  men  to  make  a  black  man  work ;"  and 
he  was  confident  that  it  was  not  necessary,  on  any 
pretence  whatever,  to  have  a  single  slave  in  Alabama. 
Where  all  the  other  elements  of  prosperity  exist, 
as  they  do  in  that  rich  new  State,  any  quality  and 
amount  of  labour  might  be  obtained,  and  the  per- 
manent prosperity  of  the  country  might  be  secured. 
If  matters  go  on  as  they  are,  Alabama  will  in  time 
follow  the  course  of  the  south-eastern  States,  and 
find  her  production  of  cotton  declining;  and  she 
will  have  to  learn  a  wiser  husbandry  by  vicissitude. 
But  matters  will  not  go  on  as  they  are  to  that 
point.  Cotton-growing  is  advancing  rapidly  in 
other  parts  of  the  world  where  there  is  the  advan- 
tage of  cheap,  free  labour ;  and  the  southern  States 
of  America  will  find  themselves  unable  to  withstand 
the  competition  of  rivals  whom  they  now  despise, 
but  by  the  use  of  free  labour,  and  of  the  improved 
management  which  will  accompany  it.  There  is 


46  AGRICULTURE. 

already  a  great  importation  of  mules  for  field  work 
from  the  higher  western  States.  Who  knows  but 
that  in  time  there  may  be  cattle-shows,  (like  those 
of  the  more  prosperous  rural  districts  of  the  north, ) 
where  there  are  now  slave  markets;  or  at  least 
agricultural  societies,  whereby  the  inhabitants  may 
be  put  in  the  way  of  obtaining  tender  "  sheep's 
meat,"  while  cotton  may  be  grown  more  plentifully 
than  even  at  present  ? 

I  saw  at  Charleston  the  first  great  overt  act  of 
improvement  that  I  am  aware  of  in  South  Carolina. 
One  step  has  been  taken  upwards ;  and  when  I  saw 
it,  I  could  only  wish  that  the  slaves  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood could  see,  as  clearly  as  a  stranger  could, 
the  good  it  portended  to  them.  It  is  nothing  more 
than  that  an  enterprising  gentleman  has  set  up  a 
rice-mill,  and  that  he  avails  himself  to  the  utmost 
of  its  capabilities ;  but  this  is  made  much  of  in  that 
land  of  small  improvement;  as  it  ought  to  be. 
The  chaff  is  used  to  enrich  the  soil ;  and  the  pro- 
prietor has  made  lot  after  lot  of  bad  land  very  pro- 
fitable for  sale  with  it,  and  is  thus  growing  rapidly 
rich.  The  sweet  flour,  which  lies  between  the 
husk  and  the  grain,  is  used  for  fattening  cattle. 
The  broken  rice  is  sold  cheap ;  and  the  rest  finds  a 
good  market.  There  are  nine  persons  employed  in 
the  mill,  some  white  and  some  black;  and  many 
more  are  busy  in  preparing  the  lots  of  land,  and  in 


AGRICULTURE.  47 

building  on  them.     Clusters  of  houses  have  risen 
up  around  the  mill. 

Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  present  the 
extreme  case  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  prosperity 
of  proprietors,  and  the  woes  of  slaves.  I  found 
the  Virginians  spoke  with  sorrow  and  contempt  of 
the  treatment  of  slaves  in  North  and  South  Caro- 
lina :  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  of  the  treatment 
of  slaves  in  the  richer  States  to  the  west :  and,  in 
these  last,  I  found  the  case  too  bad  to  admit  of  ag- 
gravation. It  was  in  these  last  that  the  most 
heart-rending  disclosures  were  made  to  me  by  the 
ladies,  heads  of  families,  of  the  state  of  society,  and 
of  their  own  intolerable  sufferings  in  it.  As  I  went 
further  north  again,  I  found  an  improvement. 
There  was  less  wealth  in  the  hands  of  individuals, 
a  better  economy,  more  intelligent  slaves,  and  more 
discussion  how  to  get  rid  of  slavery.  Tennessee 
is,  in  some  sort,  naturally  divided  on  the  question. 
The  eastern  part  of  the  State  is  hilly,  and  fit  for 
farming ;  for  which  slave  labour  does  not  answer. 
The  western  part  is  used  for  cotton-planting;  and 
the  planters  will  not  yet  hear  of  free  labour.  The 
magnificent  State  of  Kentucky  has  no  other  draw- 
back to  its  prosperity  than  slavery;  and  its  inha- 
bitants are  so  far  convinced  of  this  that  they  will, 
no  doubt,  soon  free  themselves  from  it.  They  can- 


48  AGRICULTURE. 

not  look  across  the  river,  and  witness  the  pros- 
perity of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio,  without  being 
aware  that,  with  their  own  unequalled  natural  ad- 
vantages, they  could  not  be  so  backward  as  they 
are,  from  any  other  cause. 

Kentucky  is  equally  adapted  for  agriculture  and 
commerce.  She  may  have  ports  on  the  rivers, 
along  her  whole  northern  and  western  boundary ; 
and  she  has  already  roads  superior  to  almost  any 
in  the  United  States.  She  is  rich  in  stone,  and 
many  other  minerals ;  in  mineral  waters,  and  in  a 
soil  of  unsurpassed  fertility.  The  State  is  more 
thickly  settled  than  is  evident  to  the  passing  tra- 
veller ;  and  the  effect  will  appear  when  more  mar- 
kets, or  roads  to  existing  markets,  are  opened.  In 
one  small  county  which  I  visited,  my  host  and  his 
brother  had  farms  of  fifteen  hundred  acres  each  ; 
and  there  were  two  hundred  and  fifty  other  farms 
in  the  county.  Sometimes  these  farms  are  divided 
among  the  children.  More  commonly,  all  the 
sons  but  one  go  elsewhere  to  settle.  In  this  case, 
the  homestead  is  usually  left  to  the  youngest  son, 
who  is  supposed  likely  to  be  the  most  attached  to 
the  surviving  parent. 

The  estates  of  the  two  brothers,  mentioned 
above,  comprising  three  thousand  acres,  were 
bought  of  the  Indians  for  a  rifle.  We  passed 


AGRICULTURE.  49 

a  morning  in  surveying  the  one  which  is  a  grazing 
farm.  There  is  a  good  red-brick  house  for  the 
family:  and  the  slave-quarter  is  large.  Nothing 
can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  aspect  of  the  estate, 
from  the  richness  of  its  vegetation,  and  the  droves 
of  fine  cattle  that  were  to  be  seen  everywhere.  I 
never  saw  finer  cattle.  The  owner  had  just  refused 
sixty  dollars  apiece  for  fourteen  of  them.  Fifteen 
acres  of  the  forest  are  left  for  shade;  and  there, 
and  under  single  oaks  in  the  cleared  pasture,  were 
herds  of  horses  and  mules,  and  three  donkeys  ;  the 
only  ones  I  saw  in  the  United  States. 

We  passed  an  unshaded  meadow,  where  the  grass 
had  caught  fire  every  day  at  eleven  o'clock,  the 
preceding  summer.  This  demonstrates  the  neces- 
sity of  shade. 

We  passed  "  a  spontaneous  rye-field."  I  asked 
what  "  spontaneous"  meant  here;  and  found  that  a 
fine  crop  of  rye  had  been  cut  the  year  before ;  and 
that  the  nearly  equally  fine  one  now  before  us 
had  grown  up  from  the  dropped  seed, 

We  enjoyed  the  thought  of  the  abundance  of 
milk  here,  after  the  dearth  we  had  suffered  in  the 
South.  Forty  cows  are  milked  for  the  use  of  the 
family  and  the  negroes,  and  are  under  the  care  of 
seven  women.  The  proprietor  declared  to  me  that 
he  believed  his  slaves  would  drive  him  mad. 

VOL,    II.  D 


50  AGRICULTURE. 

Planters,  who  grow  but  one  product,  suffer  much 
less  from  the  incapacity  and  perverse  will  of  their 
negroes  :  the  care  of  stock  is  quite  another  matter ; 
and  for  any  responsible  service,  slaves  are  totally 
unfit. 

Instead  of  living  being  cheaper  on  country 
estates,  from  the  necessaries  of  life  being  raised  on 
them,  it  appears  to  be  much  more  expensive. 
This  is  partly  owing  to  the  prevailing  pride  of  hav- 
ing negroes  to  show.  One  family,  of  four  persons, 
of  my  acquaintance,  in  South  Carolina,  whose  style 
of  living  might  be  called  homely,  cannot  manage 
to  live  for  less  than  three  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
They  have  a  carriage  and  eleven  negroes.  It  is 
cheaper  in  Kentucky.  In  the  towns,  a  family  may 
live  in  good  style  for  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  a  year ;  and  for  no  great  deal  more  in  the 
country.  A  family  entered  upon  a  good  house, 
near  a  town,  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  a  few  years  ago,  at  a  rent  of  three  hundred 
dollars.  They  bought  house  and  land,  and  brought 
their  slaves,  and  now  live,  exclusive  of  rent  and 
hire  of  servants,  for  two  thousand  dollars  a  year,  in 
greater  numbers  and  much  higher  style  than  the 
South  Carolina  family. 

The  prospects  of  agriculture  in  the  States  north- 
west of  the  Ohio  are  brilliant  The  stranger  who 
looks  upon  the  fertile  prairies  of  Illinois  and  In- 


AGRICULTURE.  51 

diana,  and  the  rich  alluvions  of  Ohio,  feels  the 
iniquity  of  the  English  corn  laws  as  strongly  as  in 
the  alleys  of  Sheffield  and  Manchester.  The  in- 
human perverseness  of  taxing  food  is  there  evident 
in  all  its  enormity.  The  world  ought  never  to  hear 
of  a  want  of  food, — no  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  its 
civilised  portions  ought  ever  to  be  without  the 
means  of  obtaining  his  fill,  while  the  mighty  west- 
ern valley  smiles  in  its  fertility.  If  the  aristocracy 
of  England,  for  whom  those  laws  were  made,  and 
by  whom  they  are  sustained,  could  be  transported 
to  travel,  in  open  wagons,  the  boundless  prairies, 
and  the  shores  of  the  great  rivers  which  would 
bring  down  the  produce,  they  would  groan  to  see 
from  what  their  petty,  selfish  interests  had  shut  out 
the  thousands  of  half-starved  labourers  at  home. 
If  they  could  not  be  convinced  of  the  very  plain 
truth,  of  how  their  own  fortunes  would  be  benefited 
by  allowing  the  supply  and  demand  of  food  to  take 
their  natural  course,  they  would,  for  the  moment, 
wish  their  rent-rolls  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
rather  than  that  they  should  stand  between  the 
crowd  of  labourers  and  the  supply  of  food  which 
God  has  offered  them.  The  landlords  of  England 
do  not  go  and  see  the  great  western  valley ;  but, 
happily,  some  of  the  labourers  of  England  do. 
Far  off  as  that  valley  is,  those  labourers  will  make 
themselves  heard  from  thence,  by  those  who  have 


52  AGRICULTURE. 

driven  them  there;  and  will  teach  the  brethren 
whom  they  have  left  behind  where  the  blame  of 
their  hunger  lies.  Every  British  settler  who 
ploughs  a  furrow  in  the  prairie,  helps  to  plough  up 
the  foundations  of  the  British  Corn  Laws. 

There  is  a  prospect,  not  very  uncertain  or  re- 
mote, of  these  prairie  lands  bringing  relief  to  a  yet 
more  suffering  class  than  either  English  labourers  or 
landlords;  the  sugar-growing  slaves  of  the  south. 
Rumours  of  the  progress  of  sugar-making  from  beet 
in  France  have,  for  some  time  past,  been  interesting 
many  persons  in  the  United  States ;  especially  capi- 
talists inclined  to  speculate,  and  the  vigilant  friends 
of  the  slave.  Information  has  been  obtained,  and 
some  trials  made.  Individuals  have  sown  ten 
acres  and  upwards  each,  and  manufactured  sugar 
with  a  small  apparatus.  The  result  has  been  en- 
couraging ;  and  a  large  manufactory  was  to  be 
opened  in  Philadelphia  on  the  1st  of  November 
last.  Two  large  joint-stock  companies  have  been 
founded,  one  in  New  Jersey  and  the  other  in  Illi- 
nois. Their  proceedings  have  been  quickened  by 
the  frosts  of  several  successive  seasons,  which  have 
so  cut  off  the  canes  in  the  south,  as  that  it  cannot 
supply  one  quarter  of  the  domestic  consumption  : 
whereas  it  had  previously  supplied  half.  Some  of 
the  southern  newspapers  have  recommended  the 
substitution  of  beet  for  canes.  However  soon  this 


AGRICULTURE.  53 

may  be  done,  the  northern  sugar  planters,  with 
their  free  labour,  will  surely  overpower  the  south 
in  the  competition.  This  is  on  the  supposition 
that  beet  will  answer  as  well  as  canes ;  a  supposi- 
tion which  will  have  been  granted  whenever  the 
south  begins  to  grow  beet  in  preference  to  canes. 

A  heavy  blow  would  be  inflicted  on  slavery  by 
the  success  of  the  beet  companies.  The  condition 
of  the  cane- growing  slaves  cannot  be  made  worse 
than  it  is.  I  believe  that  even  in  the  West  Indies 
it  has  never  been  so  dreadful  as  at  present  in  some 
parts  of  Louisiana.  A  planter  stated  to  a  sugar  ^ 
refiner  in  New  York,  that  it  was  found  the  best 
economy  to  ivork  off  the  stock  of  negroes  once  in 
seven  years. 

The  interest  excited  by  this  subject  of  beet- 
growing  is  very  strong  throughout  the  United 
States.  Some  result  must  ensue  which  will  be  an 
instigation  to  further  action.  The  most  important 
would  be  the  inducing  in  the  south  either  the  use 
of  free  labour  in  sugar-growing,  or  the  surrender 
of  an  object  so  fatal  to  decent  humanity. 

The  prettiest  amateur  farm  I  saw  was  that  of 
the  late  Dr.  Hosack,  at  Hyde  Park,  on  the  Hud- 
son. Dr.  Hosack  had  spared  no  pains  to  improve 
his  stock,  and  his  methods  of  farming,  as  well  as 
the  beauty  of  his  pleasure-grounds.  His  merits  in 


54  AGRICULTURE. 

the  former  departments  the  agricultural  societies 
in  England  are  much  better  qualified  to  appreciate 
than  I ;  and  they  seem  to  have  valued  his  exertions ; 
to  judge  by  the  medals  and  other  honourable  testi- 
monials from  them  which  he  showed  to  me.  As 
for  his  pleasure-grounds,  little  was  left  for  the  hand 
of  art  to  do.  The  natural  terrace  above  the 
river,  green,  sweeping,  and  undulating,  is  surpass- 
ingly beautiful.  Dr.  Hosack's  good  taste  led  him 
to  leave  it  alone,  and  to  spend  his  pains  on  the 
gardens  and  conservatory  behind.  Of  all  the 
beautiful  country-seats  on  the  Hudson,  none  can, 
I  think,  equal  Hyde  Park ;  though  many  bear  a 
more  imposing  appearance  from  the  river. 

Though  I  twice  traversed  the  western  part  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  I  did  not  see  the  celebrated 
farm  of  Mr.  Wadsworth  ;  the  finest,  by  all  accounts, 
in  the  United  States.  The  next  best  thing  to  see- 
ing it  was  hearing  Mr.  Wadsworth  talk  about  it, — 
especially  of  its  hospitable  capabilities.  This  only 
increased  my  regret  at  being  unable  to  visit  it. 

The  most  remarkable  order  of  land-owners  that 
I  saw  in  the  United  States  was  that  of  the  Shakers 
and  the  Rappites ;  both  holding  all  their  property 
in  common,  and  both  enforcing  celibacy.  The  in- 
terest which  would  be  felt  by  the  whole  of  society 
in  watching  the  results  of  a  community  of  property 


AGRICULTURE.  55 

is  utterly  destroyed  by  the  presence  of  the  other 
distinction  ;  or  rather  of  the  ignorance  and  super- 
stition of  which  it  is  the  sign. 

The  moral  and  economical  principles  of  these 
societies  ought  to  he  most  carefully  distinguished 
by  the  observer.  This  being  done,  I  believe  it 
will  be  found  that  whatever  they  have  peculiarly 
good  among  them  is  owing  to  the  soundness  of 
their  economical  principles ;  whatever  they  have 
that  excites  compassion,  is  owing  to  the  badness  of 
their  moral  arrangements. 

I  visited  two  Shaker  communities  in  Massachu- 
setts. The  first  was  at  Hancock,  consisting  of 
three  hundred  persons,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  an- 
other  aFLebanon,  consisting  of  seven  hundred  per- 
sons. There  are  fifteen  Shaker  establishments  or 
"  families"  in  the  United  States,  and  their  total 
number  is  between  fiyeaju^  six  thousand.  There 
is  no  question  of  their  entire  success,  as  far  as 
wealth  is  concerned.  A  very  moderate  amount  of 
labour  has  secured  to  them  in  perfection  all  the 
comforts  of  life  that  they  know  how  to  enjoy,  and 
as  much  wealth  besides  as  would  command  the 
intellectual  luxuries  of  which  they  do  not  dream. 
The  earth  does  not  show  more  flourishing  fields, 
gardens,  and  orchards,  than  theirs.  The  houses  are 
spacious,  and  in  all  respects  unexceptionable.  The 
finish  of  every  external  thing  testifies  to  their 


56  AGRICULTURE. 

wealth,  both  of  material  and  leisure.  The  floor  of 
their  place  of  worship,  (the  scene  of  their  pecu- 
liar exercises,)  the  roofs  of  their  houses,  their  stair- 
carpets,  the  feet  of  their  chairs,  the  springs  of  their 
gates,  and  their  spitting-boxes, — for  even  these 
neat  people  have  spitting-boxes — show  a  nicety 
which  is  rare  in  America.  Their  table  fare  is 
of  the  very  best  quality.  We  had  depended  on 
a  luncheon  among  them,  and  were  rather  alarmed 
at  the  refusal  we  met,  when  we  pleaded  our  long 
ride  and  the  many  hours  that  we  should  have  to 
wait  for  refreshment,  if  they  would  not  furnish  us 
with  some.  They  urged,  reasonably  enough, 
that  a  steady  rule  was  necessary,  subject  as  the 
community  was  to  visits  from  the  company  at  Le- 
banon Springs.  They  did  not  want  to  make 
money  by  furnishing  refreshments,  and  did  not  de- 
sire the  trouble.  For  once,  however,  they  kindly 
gave  way;  and  we  were  provided  with  delicious 
bread,  molasses,  butter,  cheese  and  wine;  all  home- 
made, of  course.  If  happiness  lay  in  bread  and 
butter,  and  such  things,  these  people  have  attained 
the  sumrnum  bonum.  Their  store  shows  what 
they  can  produce  for  sale.  A  great  variety  of 
simples,  of  which  they  sell  large  quantities  to  Lon- 
don ;  linen-drapery,  knitted  wares,  sieves,  baskets, 
boxes,  and  confectionary ;  palm  and  feather  fans, 
pin-cushions,  and  other  such  trifles  ;  all  these  may 


AGRICULTURE.  57 

be  had  in  some  variety,  and  of  the  best  quality.  If 
such  external  provision,  with  a  great  amount  of 
accumulated  wealth  besides,  is  the  result  of  co- 
operation and  community  of  property  among  an 
ignorant,  conceited,  inert  society  like  this,  what 
might  not  the  same  principles  of  association  achieve 
among  a  more  intelligent  set  of  people,  stimulated 
by  education,  and  exhilarated  by  the  enjoyment  of 
ail  the  blessings  which  Providence  has  placed 
within  the  reach  of  man  ? 

The  wealth  of  the  Shakers  is  not  to  be  attri- 
buted to  their  celibacy.  They  are  receiving  a 
perpetual  accession  to  their  numbers  from  among 
the  "  world's  people,"  and  these  accessions  are 
usually  of  the  most  unprofitable  kind.  Widows 
with  large  families  of  young  children,  are  perpetu- 
ally joining  the  community,  with  the  view  of  ob- 
taining a  plentiful  subsistence  with  very  moderate 
labour.  The  increase  of  their  numbers  does  not 
lead  to  the  purchase  of  more  land.  They  supply 
their  enlarged  wants  by  the  high  cultivation  of  the 
land  they  have  long  possessed ;  and  the  superfluity 
of  capital  is  so  great  that  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
what  will  be  done  with  it  by  a  people  so  nearly 
dead  to  intellectual  enjoyments.  If  there  had  been 
no  celibacy  among  them,  they  would  probably  have 
been  far  more  wealthy  than  they  are ;  the  expenses 
of  living  in  community  being  so  much  less,  and  the 

D  5 


58  AGRICULTURE. 

produce  of  co-operative  labour  being  so  much 
greater  than  in  a  state  of  division  into  families. 
The  truth  of  these  last  positions  can  be  denied  by 
none  who  have  witnessed  the  working  of  a  co-ope- 
rative system.  The  problem  is  to  find  the  prin- 
ciple by  which  all  shall  be  induced  to  labour  their 
share.  Any  such  principle  being  found,  the  wealth 
of  the  community  follows  of  course. 

Whether  any  principle  to  this  effect  can  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  any  large  class  of  society  in 
the  old  world,  is  at  present  the  most  important  dis- 
pute, perhaps,  that  is  agitating  society.  It  will 
never  now  rest  till  it  has  been  made  matter  of  ex- 
periment. If  a  very  low  principle  has  served  the 
purpose,  for  a  time  at  least,  in  the  new  world,  there 
seems  much  ground  for  expectation  that  a  far 
higher  one  may  be  found  to  work  as  well  in  the 
more  complicated  case  of  English  society.  There 
is,  at  least,  every  encouragement  to  try.  While 
there  are  large  classes  of  people  here  whose  condi- 
tion can  hardly  be  made  worse ;  while  the  present 
system  (if  such  it  may  be  called)  imposes  care  on 
the  rich,  excessive  anxiety  on  the  middle  classes, 
and  desperation  on  the  poor :  while  the  powerful 
are  thus,  as  it  were,  fated  to  oppress ;  the  strivers 
after  power  to  circumvent  and  counteract ;  and  the 
powerless  to  injure,  it  seems  only  reasonable  that 
some  section,  at  least,  of  this  warring  population 


AGRICULTURE.  59 

should  make  trial  of  the  peaceful  principles  which 
are  working  successfully  elsewhere.  The  co-ope- 
rative methods  of  the  Shakers  and  Rappites  might 
be  tried  without  any  adoption  of  their  spiritual 
pride  and  cruel  superstition.  These  are  so  far 
from  telling  against  the  system,  that  they  prompt 
the  observer  to  remark  how  much  has  been  done 
in  spite  of  such  obstacles. 

There  must  be  something  sound  in  the  princi- 
ples on  which  these  people  differ  from  the  rest  of 
the  world,  or  they  would  not  work  at  all ;  but  the 
little  that  is  vital  is  dreadfully  encumbered  with 
that  which  is  dead.  Like  all  religious  persuasions 
from  which  one  differs,  that  of  the  Shakers  appears 
more  reasonable  in  conversation,  and  in  their  daily 
actions,  than  on  paper  and  at  a  distance.  In  actual 
life,  the  absurd  and  peculiar  recedes  before  the 
true  and  universal;  but,  I  own,  I  have  never  wit- 
nessed more  visible  absurdity  than  in  the  way  of 
life  of  the  Shakers.  The  sound  part  of  their  prin- 
ciple is  the  same  as  that  which  has  sustained  all 
devotees ;  and  with  it  is  joined  a  spirit  of  fellowship 
which  makes  them  more  in  the  right  than  the  an- 
chorites and  friars  of  old.  This  is  all.  Their  spi- 
ritual pride,  their  insane  vanity,  their  intellectual 
torpor,  their  mental  grossness,  are  melancholy  to 
witness.  Reading  is  discouraged  among  them. 
Their  thoughts  are  full  of  the  one  subject  of  celi- 


60  AGRICULTURE. 

bacy:  with  what  effect,  may  be  easily  imagined. 
Their  religious  exercises  are  disgustingly  full  of  it. 
It  cannot  be  otherwise :  for  they  have  no  other  in- 
teresting subject  of  thought  beyond  their  daily  rou- 
tine of  business;  no  objects  in  life,  no  wants,  no 
hopes,  no  novelty  of  experience  whatever.  Their 
life  is  all  dull  work  and  no  play. 

The  women,  in  their  frightful  costume,  close 
opaque  caps,  and  drab  gowns  of  the  last  degree  of 
tightness  and  scantiness,  are  nothing  short  of  dis- 
gusting. They  are  averse  to  the  open  air  and  ex- 
ercise ;  they  are  pallid  and  spiritless.  They  look 
far  more  forlorn  and  unnatural  than  the  men. 
Their  soulless  stare  at  us,  before  their  worship  be- 
gan, was  almost  as  afflicting  as  that  of  the  lowest 
order  of  slaves ;  and,  when  they  dancjed,  they  were 
like  so  many  galvanised  corpses.  I  had  been  rather 
afraid  of  not  being  able  to  keep  my  countenance 
during  this  part  of  their  worship;  but  there  was 
no  temptation  to  laugh.  It  was  too  shocking  for 
ridicule.  Three  men  stood  up,  shouting  a  mono- 
tonous tune,  and  dangling  their  crossed  hands,  with 
a  pawing  motion,  to  keep  time,  while  the  rest 
danced,  except  some  old  women  and  young  chil- 
dren, who  sat  out.  The  men  stamped,  and  the 
women  jerked,  with  their  arms  hanging  by  their 
sides;  they  described  perpetually  the  figure  of  a 
square ;  the  men  and  boys  on  one  side,  the  women 


AGRICULTURE.  61 

and  girls  on  the  other.  There  were  prayers  be- 
sides, and  singing,  and  a  sermon.  This  last  was 
of  a  better  quality  than  usual,  I  understood.  It 
was  (of  all  improbable  subjects)  on  religious  liberty, 
and  contained  nothing  outrageously  uncommon,  ex- 
cept the  proposition  that  the  American  revolution 
had  drawn  the  last,  of  the  teeth  of  the  red  dragon. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  children  who 
are  carried  in  by  their  widowed,  or  indolent,  or 
poor,  or  superstitious  parents,  are  always  acquies- 
cent in  their  destination.  I  saw  many  a  bright 
face  within  the  prim  cap-border,  which  bore  a  pro- 
phecy of  a  return  to  the  world ;  and  two  of  the 
boys  stamped  so  vigorously  in  the  dance,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  imagine  their  feelings  to  be  very  de- 
votional. The  story  of  one  often  serves  as  an  index 
to  the  hearts  of  many.  I  knew  of  a  girl  who  was 
carried  into  a  Shaker  community  by  her  widowed 
mother,  and  subjected  early  to  its  discipline.  It 
was  hateful  to  her.  One  Sunday,  when  she  was,  I 
believe,  about  sixteen,  she  feigned  illness,  to  avoid 
going  to  worship.  When  she  believed  every  one 
else  gone,  she  jumped  out  of  a  low  window,  and  upon 
the  back  of  a  pony  which  happened  to  be  in  the  field. 
She  rode  round  and  round  the  enclosure,  without 
saddle  or  bridle,  and  then  re-entered  the  house. 
She  had  been  observed,  and  was  duly  reprimanded. 
She  left  the  community  in  utter  weariness  and 


62  AGRICULTURE. 

disgust.  A  friend  of  mine,  in  a  neighbouring  vil- 
lage, took  the  girl  into  her  service.  She  never 
settled  well  in  service,  being  too  proud  for  the  oc- 
cupation ;  and  she  actually  went  back  to  the  same 
community,  and  is  there  still,  for  no  better  reason 
than  the  saving  of  her  pride.  Her  old  teachers 
had,  it  thus  appeared,  obtained  an  influence  over 
her,  notwithstanding  the  tyranny  of  their  discipline  ; 
and  it  had  not  been  of  a  wholesome  moral  nature. 
But  no  more  words  are  necessary  to  show  how 
pride,  and  all  other  selfishness,  must  flourish  in  a 
community  which  religiously  banishes  all  the  ten- 
derest  charities  of  life. 

The  followers  of  Mr.  Rapp  are  settled  at  Eco- 
nomy, on  the  Ohio,  eighteen  miles  below  Pitts- 
burgh. Their  number  was  five  hundred  when  I 
was  there ;  and  they  owned  three  thousand  acres 
of  land.  Much  of  their  attention  seems  to  be  given 
to  manufactures.  They  rear  silkworms,  and  were 
the  earliest  silk-weavers  in  the  United  States.  At 
my  first  visit  they  were  weaving  only  a  flimsy  kind 
of  silk  handkerchief;  last  summer  I  brought  away 
a  piece  of  substantial,  handsome  black  satin.  They 
have  sheep-walks,  and  a  large  woollen  manufac- 
tory. Their  factory  was  burnt  down  in  1 834 ;  the 
fire  occasioning  a  loss  of  sixty  thousand  dollars ;  a 
mere  trifle  to  this  wealthy  community.  Their 
vineyards,  corn-fields,  orchards,  and  gardens  glad- 


AGRICULTURE.  63 

den  the  eye.  There  is  an  abundance  so  much  be- 
yond their  need  that  it  is  surprising  that  they 
work ;  except  for  want  of  something  else  to  do.  The 
Dutch  love  of  flowers  was  visible  in  the  plants  that 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  windows,  and  the  rich  car- 
nations and  other  sweets  that  bloomed  in  the  gar- 
den and  green-house.  The  whole  place  has  a 
superior  air  to  that  of  either  of  the  Shaker  "  families" 
that  I  saw.  The  women  were  better  dressed ;  more 
lively,  less  pallid;  but,  I  fear,  not  much  wiser.  Mr. 
Rapp  exercises  an  unbounded  influence  over  his 
people.  They  are  prevented  learning  any  language 
but  German,  and  are  not  allowed  to  converse  with 
strangers.  The  superintendent  keeps  a  close  watch 
over  them  in  this  respect.  Probationers  must  serve 
a  year  before  they  can  be  admitted :  and  the  ma- 
nagers own  that  they  dread  the  entrance  of  young 
people,  who  might  be  "  unsettled  ;"  that  is,  not  suf- 
ficiently subservient. 

I  was  curious  to  learn  how  five  hundred  persons 
could  be  kept  in  the  necessary  subjection  by  one. 
Mr.  Rapp's  means  are  such  that  his  task  is  not  very 
difficult.  He  keeps  his  people  ignorant ;  and  he 
makes  them  vain.  He  preaches  to  them  their 
own  superiority  over  the  rest  of  the  world  so  in- 
cessantly that  they  fully  believe  it ;  and  are  per- 
suaded that  their  salvation  is  in  his  hands.  At  first 
I  felt,  with  regard  both  to  them  and  the  Shakers,  a 


64  AGRICULTURE. 

strong  respect  for  the  self-conquest  which  could 
enable  them  to  endure  the  singularity, —  the  one 
community,  of  its  non-intercourse  with  strangers ; 
the  other,  of  its  dancing  exhibitions ;  but  I  soon 
found  that  my  respect  was  misplaced.  One  and  all, 
they  glory  in  the  singularity.  They  feel  no  awk- 
wardness in  it,  from  first  to  last.  This  vanity  is  the 
handle  by  which  they  are  worked. 

Mr.  Rapp  is  now  very  old.  His  son  is  dead.  It 
remains  to  be  seen  what  will  become  of  his  com- 
munity, with  its  immense  accumulation  of  wealth, 
when  it  has  lost  its  dictator.  It  does  not  appear 
that  they  can  go  on  in  their  present  state  without  a 
dictator.  They  smile  superciliously  upon  Mr. 
Owen's  plan,  as  admitting  "  a  wrong  principle," — 
marriage.  The  best  hope  for  them  is  that  they  will 
change  their  minds  on  this  point,  admitting  the 
educational  improvements'  which  will  arise  out  of 
the  change,  and  remaining  in  community  with  re- 
gard to  property.  This  is  the  process  now  in  ac- 
tion among  the  seceders  from  their  body,  settled 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  a  short  distance 
below  Economy. 

These  seceders  were  beguiled  by  Count  Leon,  a 
stranger,  who  told  the  people  a  great  deal  that  was 
true  about  Mr.  Rapp,  and  a  great  deal  that  was 
false  about  himself.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  Count 
Leon  was  a  swindler ;  for  he  certainly  opened  the 


AGRICULTURE.  65 

eyes  of  the  Economy  people  to  many  truths,  and 
might  have  done  all  that  was  wanted,  if  he  had  him- 
self been  honest.  He  drew  away  seventy  of  the 
people,  and  instigated  them  to  demand  of  Mr.  Rapp 
their  share  of  the  accumulated  property.  It  was 
refused ;  and  a  suit  was  instituted  against  Mr.  Rapp, 
in  whose  name  the  whole  is  invested.  The  lawyers 
compromised  the  affair,  and  Mr.  Rapp  disbursed 
120,000  dollars.  Count  Leon  obtained,  and  ab- 
sconded with  almost  the  whole,  and  died  in  Texas ; 
the  burial-place  of  many  more  such  men.  With  the 
remnant  of  their  funds,  the  seventy  seceders  pur- 
chased land,  and  settled  themselves  opposite  to 
Beaver,  on  the  Ohio.  They  live  in  community,  but 
abjuring  celibacy;  and  have  been  joined  by  some 
thorough-bred  Americans.  It  will  be  seen  how 
they  prosper. 

Though  the  members  of  these  remarkable  com- 
munities are  far  from  being  the  only  agriculturists 
in  whom  the  functions  of  proprietor  and  labourer 
are  joined,  the  junction  is  in  them  so  peculiar  as  to 
make  them  a  separate  class,  holding  a  place  between 
the  landowners  of  whom  I  have  before  spoken,  and 
the  labourers  of  whom  I  shall  have  to  treat. 


66  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 


SECTION  I. 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

THE  political  economists  of  England  have  long 
wondered  why  the  Americans  have  not  done  what 
older  nations  would  be  glad  to  do,  if  the  opportunity 
had  not  gone  by ;  —  reserved  government  lands, 
which,  as  it  is  the  tendency  of  rent  to  rise,  might 
obviate  any  future  increase  of  taxation.  There  are 
more  good  reasons  than  one  why  this  cannot  be 
done  in  America. 

The  expenses  of  the  general  government  are  so 
small  that  the  present  difficulty  is  to  reduce  the 
taxation  so  as  to  leave  no  more  than  a  safe  surplus 
revenue  in  the  treasury ;  and  there  is  no  prospect 
of  any  increase  of  taxation ;  as  the  taxpayers  are 
likely  to  grow  much  faster  than  the  expenses  of  the 
government. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  choose  to  be 
proprietors  of  land,  not  tenants.  No  one  can  yet 
foresee  the  time  when  the  relation  of  landlord  and 
tenant  (except  in  regard  to  house  property)  will 
be  extensively  established  in  America,  More  than 
a  billion  of  acres  remain  to  be  disposed  of  first. 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  67 

The  weightiest  reason  of  all  is  that,  in  the  United 
States,  the  people  of  to-day  are  the  government  of 
to-day ;  the  people  of  fifty  years  hence  will  be  the 
government  of  fifty  years  hence ;  and  it  would  not 
suit  the  people  of  to-day  to  sequestrate  their  pro- 
perty for  the  benefit  of  their  successors,  any  better 
than  it  would  suit  the  people  of  fifty  years  hence  to 
be  legislated  for  by  those  of  to-day.  A  democratic 
government  must  always  be  left  free  to  be  operated 
upon  by  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the  time  being. 
All  that  the  government  of  the  day  can  do  is  to 
ascertain  what  now  appears  to  be  the  best  principle 
by  which  to  regulate  the  disposal  of  land,  and  then 
to  let  the  demand  and  supply  take  their  natural 
course. 

The  methods  according  to  which  the  disposal  of 
land  is  carried  on  are  as  good  as  the  methods  of 
government  almost  invariably  are  in  America.  The 
deficiency  is  in  the  knowledge  of  the  relation  which 
land  bears  to  other  capital  and  to  labour.*  A  few 
clear-headed  men  have  foreseen  the  evil  of  so  great 
a  dispersion  of  the  people  as  has  taken  place,  and 
have  consistently  advocated  a  higher  price  being  set 
upon  land  than  that  at  which  it  is  at  present  sold. 
Such  men  are  now  convinced  that  evils  which  seem 

*  I  need  hardly  mention  that  I  read  "  England  and  America" 
before  I  set  out  on  my  travels.  It  will  appear  that  I  am  under 
obligations  to  that  valuable  work  for  much  guidance. 


68  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

to  bear  no  more  relation  to  the  price  of  land  than 
the  fall  of  an  apple  to  the  motions  of  the  planets, 
are  attributable  to  the  reduction  in  the  price  of  go- 
vernment lots:  that  much  political  blundering,  and 
religious  animosity ;  much  of  the  illegal  violence, 
and  much  of  the  popular  apathy  on  the  slave  ques- 
tion, which  have  disgraced  the  country,  are  owing  to 
the  public  lands  being  sold  at  a  minimum  price  of 
a  dollar  and  a-quarter  per  acre.  Many  excellent 
leaders  of  the  democratic  party  think  the  people  at 
large  less  fit  to  govern  themselves  wisely  than  they 
were  five-and -twenty  years  ago.  This  seems  to  me 
improbable;  but  I  believe  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  dispersion  has  hitherto  been  too  great ;  and 
that  the  intellectual  and  moral,  and,  of  course, 
the  political  condition  of  the  people  has  thereby 
suffered. 

The  price  of  the  public  lands  was  formerly  two 
dollars  per  acre,  with  credit.  It  was  found  to  be  a 
bad  plan  for  the  constituents  of  a  government  to  be 
its  debtors  ;  and  there  was  a  reduction  of  the  price 
to  a  dollar  and  a  quarter,  without  credit.  In  forty 
years,  above  forty  millions  of  acres  have  been  sold. 
The  government  cannot  arbitrarily  raise  the  price. 
If  any  check  is  given  to  the  process  of  dispersion,  it 
must  arise  from  the  people  perceiving  the  true  state 
of  their  own  case,  and  acting  accordingly. 

Some  circumstances  seem  at  present  to  favour  the 


DISPOSAL    OF  LAND.  69 

process  of  enlightenment ;  others  are  adverse  to  it. 
Those  which  are  favourable  are,  the  high  prospe- 
rity of  manufactures  and  commerce,  the  essential 
requisite  of  which  is  the  concentration  of  labourers : 
the  increasing  immigration  of  labourers  from  Eu- 
rope, and  the  happy  experience  which  they  force 
upon  the  back  settler  of  the  advantage  of  an  increased 
proportion  of  labour  to  land ;  and  the  approaching 
crisis  of  the  slavery  question ;  when  every  one  will 
see  the  necessity  of  measures  which  will  keep  the 
slaves  where  they  are.  Of  the  extraordinary,  and 
I  must  think,  often  wilful  error  of  taking  for  granted 
that  all  the  slaves  must  be  removed,  in  order  to 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  I  shall  have  to  speak  else- 
where. 

The  circumstances  unfavourable  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  true  state  of  the  case  about  the  dis- 
posal of  land  are,  the  deep-rooted  persuasion  that 
land  itself  is  the  most  valuable  wealth,  in  all  places, 
and  under  all  circumstances  :  and  the  complication 
of  interests  connected  with  the  late  acquisition  of 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  the  present  usurpation 
of  Texas. 

Louisiana  was  obtained  from  the  French,  not  on 
account  of  the  fertile  new  land  which  it  compre- 
hended, but  because  it  was  essential  to  the  very 
existence  of  the  United  States  that  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  should  not  be  in  the  possession  of 


70  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

another  people.  The  Americans  obtained  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  with  it,  unfortunately, 
large  tracts  of  the  richest  virgin  soil,  on  which 
slavery  started  into  new  life,  and  on  which  "  the 
perspiration  of  the  eastern  States"  (as  I  have  heard 
the  settlers  of  the  west  called)  rested,  and  grew 
barbarous  while  they  grew  rich.  A  fact  has  lately 
transpired  in  the  northern  States  which  was  already 
well  known  in  the  south, — that  the  purchase  of 
Florida  was  effected  for  the  sake  of  the  slave- 
holders. It  is  now  known  that  the  President  was 
overwhelmed  with  letters  from  slave-owners,  com- 
plaining that  Florida  was  the  refuge  of  their  runa- 
ways ;  and  demanding  that  this  retreat  should  be 
put  within  their  power.  Florida  was  purchased. 
Many  and  great  evils  have  already  arisen  out  of  its 
acquisition.  To  cover  these,  and  blind  the  people 
to  the  particular  and  iniquitous  interests  engaged 
in  the  affair,  the  sordid  faction  benefited  raises  a 
perpetual  boast  in  the  ears  of  the  people  about 
their  gain  of  new  territory,  and  the  glory  and  profit 
of  having  added  so  many  square  miles  to  their  al- 
ready vast  possessions. 

In  the  eyes  of  those  of  the  people  who  do 
not  yet  see  the  whole  case,  the  only  evil  which 
has  arisen  out  of  the  possession  of  Florida,  is 
the  Seminole  warfare.  They  breathe  an  in- 
tense hatred  against  the  Seminole  Indians;  and 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  71 

many  fine  young  men  have  gone  down  into  Florida, 
and  lost  their  lives  in  battle,  without  being  aware 
that  they  were  fighting  for  oppressors  against  the 
oppressed.  Probably  few  of  the  United  States 
troops  who  fell  in  the  late  Seminole  war  knew  how 
the  strife  arose.  According  to  the  laws  of  the 
slave  States,  the  children  of  the  slaves  follow  the 
fortunes  of  the  mother.  It  will  be  seen,  at  a  glance, 
what  consequences  follow  from  this ;  how  it  ope- 
rates as  a  premium  upon  licentiousness  among 
white  men ;  how  it  prevents  any  but  mock  mar- 
riages among  slaves ;  and  also  what  effect  it  must 
have  upon  any  Indians  with  whom  slave  women 
have  taken  refuge.  The  late  Seminole  war  arose 
out  of  this  law.  The  escaped  slaves  had  intermar- 
ried with  the  Indians.  The  masters  claimed  the 
children.  The  Seminole  fathers  would  not  deliver 
them  up.  Force  was  used  to  tear  the  children  from 
their  parents'  arms,  and  the  Indians  began  their 
desperate,  but  very  natural  work  of  extermination. 
They  have  carried  on  the  war  with  eminent  success, 
St.  Augustine,  the  capital,  being  now  the  only  place 
in  Florida  where  the  whites  can  set  their  foot.  Of 
course,  the  poor  Indians  will  ultimately  succumb, 
however  long  they  may  maintain  the  struggle :  but, 
before  that,  the  American  people  may  possibly 
have  learned  enough  of  the  facts  of  the  case  to 
silence  those  who  boast  of  the  acquisition  of  Flo- 
rida, as  an  increase  of  the  national  glory. 


72  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

It  would  be  a  happy  thing  for  them  if  they  should 
know  all  soon  enough  to  direct  their  national  repro- 
bation upon  the  Texan  adventurers,  and  wash  their 
hands  of  the  iniquity  of  that  business.  This  would 
soon  be  done,  if  they  could  look  upon  the  whole 
affair  from  a  distance,  and  see  how  the  fair  fame  of 
their  country  is  compromised  by  the  avarice  and 
craft  of  a  faction.  The  probity  of  their  people,  their 
magnanimity  in  money  matters,  have  always  been 
conspicuous,  from  the  time  of  the  cession  of  their 
lands  by  the  States  to  the  General  Government, 
till  now :  and,  now  they  seem  in  danger  of  forfeit- 
ing their  high  character  through  the  art  of  the  few, 
and  the  ignorance  of  the  many.  The  few  are  ob- 
taining their  end  by  flattering  the  passion  of  the 
many  for  new  territory,  as  well  as  by  engaging  their 
best  feelings  on  behalf  of  those  who  are  supposed  to 
be  fighting  for  their  rights  against  oppressors. 
There  is  yet  hope.  The  knowledge  of  the  real 
state  of  the  case  is  spreading ;  and,  if  only  time  can 
be  gained,  the  Americans  will  yet  be  saved  from 
the  eternal  disgrace  of  adding  Texas  to  their  ho- 
nourable Union. 

The  brief  account  which  I  shall  give  of  what  is 
prematurely  called  the  acquisition  of  Texas,  'vs 
grounded  partly  on  historical  facts,  open  to  the 
knowledge  of  all ;  and  partly  on  what  I  had  the  op- 
portunity of  learning  at  New  Orleans,  from  some 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  73 

leaders  and  agents  in  the  Texan'  cause,  who  did 
what  they  could  to  enlist  my  judgment  and  sympa- 
thies on  behalf  of  their  party.  I  went  in  entire 
ignorance  of  the  whole  matter.  My  first  knowledge 
of  it  was  derived  from  the  persons  above-mentioned, 
whose  objects  were  to  obtain  the  good-will  of  such 
English  as  they  could  win  over ;  to  have  their  affairs 
well  spoken  of  in  London;  and  to  get  the  tide  of 
respectable  English  emigration  turned  in  their  direc- 
tion. With  me  they  did  not  succeed :  with  some 
others  they  did.  Several  English  are  already  buried 
in  Texas ;  and  there  are  others  whose  repentance 
that  they  ever  were  beguiled  into  aiding  such  a 
cause  will  be  far  worse  than  death.  The  more  I 
heard  of  the  case  from  the  lips  of  its  advocates,  the 
worse  I  thought  of  it :  and  my  reprobation  of  the 
whole  scheme  has  grown  with  every  fact  which  has 
come  out  since. 

Texas,  late  a  province  of  Mexico,  and  then  one 
of  its  confederated  States,  lies  adjacent  to  Louisiana. 
The  old  Spanish  government  seem  to  have  had 
some  foresight  as  to  what  might  happen,  to  judge 
by  the  jealousy  with  which  they  guarded  this  part 
of  their  country  from  intrusion  by  the  Americans. 
The  Spanish  Captain-general  of  the  internal  pro- 
vinces, Don  Nemisio  Salcedo,  used  to  say  that  he 
would,  if  he  could,  stop  the  birds  from  flying  over 
the  boundary  between  Texas  and  the  United  States. 


74  DISPOSAL    OF   LAND. 

Prior  to  1820,  however,  a  few  adventurers,  chiefly 
Indian  traders,  had  dropped  over  the  boundary  line, 
and  remained  unmolested  in  the  eastern  corner  of 
Texas.  In  1820,  Moses  Austin,  of  Missouri,  was 
privileged  by  the  Spanish  authorities  to  introduce 
three  hundred  orderly,  industrious  families,  profes- 
sing the  Catholic  religion,  as  settlers  into  Texas. 
Moses  Austin  died ;  and  his  son  Stephen  prosecuted 
the  scheme.  Before  possession  of  the  land  was  ob- 
tained, the  Mexican  Revolution  occurred;  but  the 
new  government  confirmed  the  privilege  granted 
by  the  old  one,  with  some  modifications.  The  chief 
of  the  settlers  and  his  followers  were  liberally  en- 
riched with  lands,  gratis ;  on  the  conditions  of  their 
occupying  them ;  of  their  professing  the  Catholic 
religion ;  and  of  their  being  obedient  to  the  laws  of 
the  country. 

Other  persons  were  tempted  by  Austin's  success 
to  apply  for  grants.  Many  obtained  them,  and  dis- 
posed of  their  grants  to  joint  stock  companies;  so 
that  Texas  became  the  scene  of  much  land-specu- 
lation. The  companies  began  to  be  busy  about 
"  stock"  and  "  scrip,"  which  they  proffered  as  pre- 
paratory titles  to  land ;  and  a  crowd  of  ignorant  and 
credulous  persons,  and  of  gamblers,  thus  became 
greedy  after  lands  which  no  more  belonged  to  any 
Americans  than  Ireland. 

Leave  was  given  to  the  actual  settlers  by  the 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  75 

Mexican  Government  to  introduce,  for  ten  years, 
duty  free,  all  articles,  not  contraband,  that  were 
necessary  for  their  use  and  comfort.  Under  this 
permission,  much  smuggling  went  on :  and  many 
adventurers  settled  in  Texas  for  the  very  purpose 
of  supplying  the  neighbouring  Indian  tribes  with 
contraband  articles.  Arms  and  ammunition  were 
plentifully  furnished  to  the  savages ;  and  slaves  to 
the  settlers;  though  slavery  had  been  abolished  in 
the  country,  by  whose  laws  the  settlers  had  engaged 
to  live. 

The  next  step  was,  an  offer  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  Government  to  purchase  Texas,  in 
order  to  incorporate  it  with  the  Union.  The  offer 
was  instantly  and  indignantly  rejected  by  the  Mexi- 
cans. It  may  seem  surprising  that  even  with  the 
passion  for  territory  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have,  they  should  desire  to  purchase  Texas, 
while  above  a  billion  of  acres  of  land  at  home  were 
still  unoccupied.  Slavery  is  found  to  be  the  solu- 
tion of  this,  as  of  almost  every  other  absurdity  and 
unpleasant  mystery  there.  Slavery  answers  only 
on  a  virgin  soil,  and  under  certain  conditions  of  the 
supply  of  labour.  It  is  destined  to  die  out  of  the 
States  which  it  has  impoverished,  and  which  come 
most  closely  into  contrast  with  those  which  are 
flourishing  under  free  labour.  It  is  evidently  des- 
tined soon  to  be  relinquished  by  Missouri,  Ken- 

E  2 


76  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

tucky,  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Delaware ;  and  not 
very  long  afterwards,  by  the  Carolinas,  and  per- 
haps Tennessee.  The  proprietors  of  slaves  have  a 
double  purpose  in  acquiring  new  territory :  to  ob- 
tain a  fresh  field  for  the  labour  of  the  slaves  they 
possess;  and,  (what  is  at  least  as  important,)  to 
keep  up  the  equality  of  the  representation  of  the 
slave  and  free  States  in  Congress.  We  have  before 
seen  that  there  is  a  provision  against  the  introduc- 
tion of  slavery  into  the  lands  north-west  of  the  Ohio. 
When  to  the  representation  of  the  new  States  of 
this  region,  shall  be  joined  that  of  the  old  States 
which  relinquish  slavery,  the  remaining  slave  States 
will  be  in  a  hopeless  minority  in  Congress,  unless 
a  representation  from  new  slave  regions  can  be  pro- 
vided. Texas  is  to  be  obtained  first ;  and,  if  de- 
sirable, to  be  divided  into  several  States  ;  and  after- 
wards, the  aggressions  on  the  Mexican  territory 
will  doubtless  be  repeated,  as  often  as  a  new  area 
for  slave  labour  is  wanted ;  and  an  accession  of  re- 
presentation, for  the  support  of  slavery,  is  needed 
in  Congress.  Thus  it  happens  that  a  host  of  land- 
speculators,  adventurers  and  slave-owners  have,  for 
a  long  series  of  years,  been  interested  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  Texas. 

On  the  refusal  of  the  Mexican  Government  to 
sell  Texas,  the  newspapers  of  the  slave- holding  por- 
tion of  the  United  States  began  to  indicate  methods 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  77 

of  obtaining  the  territory,  and  to  advocate  the  use 
of  any  means  for  so  desirable  an  object.  The  agent 
of  the  United  States  at  the  Mexican  capital  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  instigated  by  his  government  to 
intrigue  for  the  purpose  which  could  not  be  obtained 
by  negotiation.  The  settlers  in  Texas  made  it 
known  along  the  Mississippi  that  they  might  soon 
be  strong  enough  to  establish  slavery  openly,  in 
defiance  of  Mexico.  This  brought  in  an  accession 
of  slave-holding  settlers,  who  evaded  the  Mexican 
laws,  by  calling  their  slaves  "  apprentices  for  ninety- 
nine  years."  The  Mexicans  took  alarm ;  decreed 
in  the  State  Legislature  of  Texas  that  no  appren- 
ticeship should,  on  any  pretence,  be  for  a  longer 
term  than  ten  years ;  forbade  further  immigration 
from  the  United  States ;  and  sent  a  small  body  of 
troops  to  enforce  the  prohibition.  This  was  in  1 829 
and  1830. 

In  1832,  the  Mexican  troops  were  unfortunately 
wanted  near  the  capital,  and  called  in  from  the 
frontiers  and  colonies.  The  settlers  shut  up  the 
custom-houses  in  their  part  of  the  country,  and 
defied  the  laws  as  much  as  they  pleased.  Then  a 
great  number  of  restless,  bad  spirits  began  to  pour 
into  Texas  from  the  whole  of  the  United  States ; 
men  who  had  to  fly  from  their  creditors,  or  from  the 
pursuit  of  justice.  There  was  probably  never  seen 
a  more  ferocious  company  of  ruffians  than  Texas 


78  DISPOSAL   OF    LAND, 

contains  at  this  moment.  These  men,  who  had  no- 
thing to  lose,  now  set  to  work  to  wrench  the  ter- 
ritory from  the  hands  of  the  Mexicans.  They 
actually  proceeded,  in  1833,  to  organize  a  State 
Government ;  opposed  earnestly  but  feebly  by  the 
honest,  original  settlers,  who  were  satisfied  with  the 
contract  under  which  they  had  settled,  and  had 
everything  to  lose  by  the  breach  of  it.  A  Conven- 
tion was  called,  to  prepare  a  State  Constitution, 
which  Stephen  Austin  had  the  audacity  to  carry  to 
the  Mexican  capital,  to  pray  for  its  ratification  by 
the  Mexican  Congress.  After  some  time,  he  was 
committed  to  prison  on  a  charge  of  treasonable  con- 
spiracy. He  was  still  in  prison  when  I  was  at  New 
Orleans,  in  May,  1835;  and  no  one  of  the  persons 
who  conversed  with  me  on  Texan  affairs  alluded  to 
the  fact.  They  spoke  of  him  as  if  living  and  acting 
among  the  settlers.  He  wrote  to  the  colonists  from 
his  prison,  advising  strict  obedience  to  the  Mexi- 
can laws ;  and,  finally,  gave  his  promise  to  the 
government  to  promote  order  in  the  colonies ;  and 
was  dismissed,  by  the  clemency  of  the  administra- 
tion, without  further  punishment  than  an  imprison- 
ment of  nearly  two  years. 

The  wilder  adventurers  among  the  settlers  had 
-chafed  at  his  advice,  but  found  it  necessary  to  be 
quiet  for  a  time.  The  Mexican  government  put 
too  much  trust  in  them  on  this  account,  and  re- 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  79 

stored,  during  Austin's  imprisonment,  the  freedom 
of  immigration,  on  the  old  conditions.  The  liberty 
was  again  shamelessly  abused.  Slaves  were  im- 
ported from  Africa,  via  Cuba,  and  illegal  land  spe- 
culations were  carried  on  with  more  vigour  than 
ever.  Troops  were  again  sent  from  the  capital  to 
re-open  the  custom-houses,  and  enforce  their  re- 
gulations. But  it  was  now  too  late. 

It  had  long  been  a  settled  agreement  between 
the  Texan  adventurers  and  many  slave-holders  of 
the  south,  that  if  slavery  could  no  otherwise  be 
perpetuated  in  Texas,  it  should  be  done  by  the 
seizure  of  that  province ;  all  possible  aid  being 
given  by  the  residents  in  the  United  States,  who 
were  a  party  to  the  agreement,  This  was  avowed 
by  the  adventurers  in  Texas ;  and  the  avowal  has 
been  justified  by  the  subscriptions  of  money,  arms, 
and  stores,  which  have  been  sent  through  New 
Orleans ;  the  companies  of  volunteers  that  have 
given  their  strength  to  the  bad  cause ;  and  the 
efforts  of  members  of  Congress  from  the  south  to 
hurry  on  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of 
Texas  by  the  United  States  Government.  It  was 
with  shame  and  grief  that  I  heard,  while  I  was  in 
New  York,  last  spring,  of  the  public  meeting  there, 
which  had  been  got  up  by  men  who  should  have 
put  the  influence  of  their  names  to  a  better  use, — 
a  public  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  Texan  adven- 


80  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

turers,  where  high-sounding  common-places  had 
been  played  off  about  patriotism,  fighting  for  the 
dearest  rights  of  man,  and  so  forth.  The  purpose 
was,  I  believe,  answered  for  the  time.  The  price 
of  stock  rose;  and  subscriptions  were  obtained. 
The  Texan  cause  was  then  in  the  lowest  state  of 
depression.  It  soon  revived,  in  consequence  of  an 
unfortunate  defeat  of  the  Mexicans,  and  the  cap- 
ture of  the  President  of  their  republic,  Santa  Anna. 
This,  again,  was  made  to  serve  as  the  occasion  of 
a  public  dinner  at  New  York,  when  some  eminent 
members  of  Congress  were  passing  through,  to  the 
Springs,  in  the  summer.  The  time  will  come  when 
those  gentlemen  will  look  back  upon  their  speeches 
at  that  dinner  as  among  the  deeds  which,  dying, 
they  would  most  wish  to  blot.  By  this  time,  how- 
ever, the  true  character  of  the  struggle  was  be- 
ginning to  be  extensively  recognised  :  and,  day  by 
day,  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  been 
since  awakening  to  the  knowledge  of  how  they 
have  been  cheated  in  having  their  best  sympathies 
called  forth  in  behalf  of  the  worst  of  causes.  The 
great  fear  is,  lest  this  should  prove  to  be  too  late ; 
lest,  the  United  States  having  furnished  the  means 
by  which  the  usurpation  of  Texas  has  been  achieved, 
the  people  of  the  Union  should  be  persuaded  that 
they  must  follow  their  common,  and  otherwise  fair 
rule,  of  acknowledging  the  independence  of  all 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  81 

States   that   are   de  facto    independent,    without 
having  anything  to  do  with  the  question  de  jure. 

What  has  been  the  national  conduct  of  the  United 
States  on  this  great  question  ?  The  government 
has  been  very  nearly  impartial.  It  must  be  allowed 
that  factions  and  individuals  were  already  doing  so 
much  that,  if  the  government  wished  all  possible 
success  to  the  Texans,  it  could  hardly  do  better 
than  be  quiet  while  they  were  receiving  the  aid  of 
its  constituents.  While  the  theft  of  Texas  has  been 
achieved,  (if  it  be  achieved,)  by  United  States 
men,  money  and  arms,  the  general  government  has 
been  officially  regarding  it  as  ostensibly  and  actually 
a  foreign  affair.  However  much  may  be  true  of 
the  general  belief  in  the  interest  of  its  members  in 
the  success  of  the  Texan  aggression,  the  govern- 
ment has  preserved  a  cool  and  guarded  tone 
throughout ;  and  the  only  act  that  I  know  of  for 
which  it  can  be  blamed  is  for  not  removing  General 
Gaines  from  his  command  on  the  frontier,  on  his 
manifestation  of  partisanship  on  the  Texan  side. 
General  Gaines  was  ordered  to  protect  the  settlers 
on  the  south-western  frontier,  who  might  be  in 
danger  from  the  Mexicans,  and  from  the  fierce 
Indians  who  were  engaged  on  the  Mexican  side  of 
the  quarrel.  General  Gaines  wrote  to  head  quar- 
ters of  his  intentions  of  crossing,  to  attack  the 

E  5 


82  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

Mexicans,  not  only  the  inner  bounds  of  the  United 
States  territory,  but  the  disputed  boundary,  claimed 
by  the  United  States,  and  disallowed  by  Mexico. 
Immediate  orders  were  despatched  to  him  to  do  no 
such  thing ;  to  confine  himself,  except  in  a  strong 
emergency,  to  the  inner  boundary  ;  and  on  no  ac- 
count whatever  to  cross  the  disputed  line.  This 
was  not  enough.  An  officer  who  had  shown  him- 
self so  indisposed  to  the  neutrality  professed  by 
his  government,  should  have  been  sent  where  he 
could  indulge  his  partialities  with  less  hazard  to  the 
national  honour. 

Some  senators  from  the  south  pressed,  last  ses- 
sion, with  indecent  haste,  for  the  recognition  of 
the  independence  of  Texas.  The  speech  of  Ex- 
President  Adams  remains  as  an  eternal  rebuke  to 
such.*  This  speech  was  the  most  remarkable  in- 
dividual act  of  the  session ;  and  no  session  has 
been  distinguished  by  one  more  honourable.  There 
was  no  attempt  at  a  reply  to  it,  in  or  out  of  either 
House.  Mr.  Adams  left  no  resource  to  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Texan  cause  but  abuse  of  himself: 
the  philosophy  of  which  he,  no  doubt,  understood 
as  well  as  other  people.  Various  public  men,  in 
various  public  assemblies,  have  declared  their  de- 
sire for  the  success  of  the  Texans ;  and  have  joined 

*  See  Appendix  A. 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  83 

with  this  the  avowal  that  the  value  of  slaves  will 
rise  fifty  per  cent.,  as  soon  as  the  independence  of 
Texas  is  acknowledged. 

The  war  is  not  yet  over.  The  vicissitudes  have 
been  so  great, — each  party  has  appeared  at  times 
in  so  hopeless  a  condition,  that  the  friends  of  Ame- 
rican honour,  and  the  foes  of  slavery,  do  not  yet 
despair  of  the  ultimate  expulsion  of  the  aggressors, 
and  the  restoration  of  Texas  to  Mexico.  If  these 
hopes  must  be  surrendered, — if  slavery  is  to  be  re- 
established on  a  constitutional  basis,  in  a  vast  ter- 
ritory where  it  had  been  actually  abolished, — if  a 
new  impulse  is  thus  to  be  given  to  the  traffic  in 
native  Africans,* — if  the  fair  fame  of  the  Anglo- 


*  The  Texans  pretend  to  deny  that  the  slave-trade  will  receive, 
or  is  receiving,  an  impulse  from  them.  The  case  is  this.  In  the 
Texan  constitution,  the  importation  of  slaves,  except  from  the 
United  States,  is  declared  piracy.  A  most  wealthy  slave-owner  of 
Louisiana  told  me,  in  1835,  that  the  annual  importation  of  native 
Africans  (by  smuggling)  was  from  thirteen  thousand  to  fifteen 
thousand.  This  has  much  increased  since.  As  long  as  there  is  a 
market  for  slaves,  there  will  be  the  slave-trade,  though  there  were 
a  preventive  cruiser  to  every  mile  of  the  ocean. 

An  official  gentleman,  from  the  British  West  Indies,  informed 
me  that  much  mischief  has  ensued  from  the  withdrawing  of  two 
or  three  small  British  schooners,  which  used  to  cruise  about  the 
islands,  and  were  broken  up  on  the  plea  of  economy ; — it  being 
supposed  that  vessels  so  small  could  do  no  good  which  would 
compensate  for  their  expense.  This  is  a  mistake.  If  a  slave  ship 
surrenders  on  summons,  the  ship  and  cargo  are  forfeited,  and  that 


84  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

Americans  is  to  be  thus  early,  and  thus  deeply 
stained,  good  men  must  rouse  themselves  the  more 
to  enlighten  the  ignorance  through  which  the  mis- 
fortune has  happened.  They  must  labour  to  ex- 
hibit the  truth,  keeping  unshaken  their  faith  in  the 
theory  of  their  constitution  that  "  the  majority  will 
be  in  the  right." 

It  is  much  to  be  feared  that,  even  if  Texas  were 
acknowledged  to-morrow  to  be  a  Mexican  State, 
an  injury  would  be  found  to  have  been  done  to  the 
American  people,  which  it  will  take  a  long  time 
and  much  experience  to  repair.  No  pains  have 
been  spared  to  confirm  the  delusion,  that  the  pos- 
session of  more  and  more  land  is  the  only  thing  to 
be  desired,  alike  by  the  selfish  and  the  patriotic ; 
by  those  who  would  hastily  build  up  their  own  for- 
tunes, and  by  those  who  desire  the  aggrandisement 
of  their  country.  No  one  mourned  with  me  more 
earnestly  over  this  popular  delusion  than  a  member 
of  Congress,  who  has  since  been  one  of  the  most 
vehement  advocates  of  the  Texan  cause,  and  has 
thereby  done  his  best  to  foster  the  delusion.  He 

is  all.  If  a  gun  is  fired,  in  defence,  the  captain  and  crew  become 
thereby  liable  to  be  hanged  as  pirates.  Of  course,  those  who  man 
a  slave  ship  are  ready  to  surrender  to  a  cock-boat,  with  two  men 
in  it,  rather  than  become  liable  to  hanging  for  property  in  which 
they  can  have,  at  most,  but  a  very  small  interest.  Thus  a  schooner 
renders  as  good  aid,  and  is  as  much  an  object  of  dread,  in  this  kind 
of  service,  as  a  larger  vessel. 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  85 

told  me  that  the  metaphysics  of  society  in  the  south 
afford  a  curious  study  to  the  observer ;  and  that 
they  are  humbling  to  a  resident.  He  told  me  that, 
so  far  from  the  honour  and  happiness  of  any  region 
being  supposed  to  lie  in  the  pursuit  of  the  higher 
objects  of  life,  any  man  would  be  pronounced 
"  imbecile"  who,  having  enough  for  his  moderate 
wants,  should  prefer  the  enjoyment  of  his  patri- 
mony, his  family  relations,  and  intercourse  with 
the  society  in  which  he  was  brought  up,  to  wander- 
ing away  in  pursuit  of  more  land.  He  complained 
that  he  was  heart-sick  when  he  heard  of  American 
books  :  that  there  was  no  character  of  permanence 
in  anything ; — all  was  fluctuation,  except  the  pas- 
sion for  land,  which,  under  the  name  of  enterprise, 
or  patriotism,  or  something  else  that  was  creditable, 
would  last  till  his  countrymen  had  pushed  their 
out-posts  to  the  Pacific.  He  insisted  that  the  only 
consolation  arose  from  what  was  to  be  hoped  when 
pioneering  must,  perforce,  come  to  a  stop.  He 
told  me  of  one  and  another  of  his  intelligent  and 
pleasant  young  neighbours,  who  were  quitting  their 
homes  and  civilised  life,  and  carrying  their  brides 
"  as  bondwomen"  into  the  wilderness,  because  fine 
land  was  cheap  there.  If  all  this  be  true  of  the 
young  gentry  of  the  south,  as  I  believe  it  is,  what 
hope  is  there  that  the  delusion  will  not  long  remain 


86  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

among  those  who  have  no  other  guides  than  Ex- 
perience ; — that  slowest  of  all  teachers  ? 

The  people  of  the  United  States  have,  however, 
kept  their  eyes  open  to  one  great  danger,  arising  from 
this  love  of  land.  They  have  always  had  in  view  the 
disadvantage  of  rich  men  purchasing  tracts  larger 
than  they  could  cultivate.  They  saw  that  it  was 
contrary  to  the  public  interest  that  individuals 
should  be  allowed  to  interpose  a  desert  between 
other  settlers  whose  welfare  depends  much  on  their 
having  means  of  free  communication,  and  a  peopled 
neighbourhood ;  and  that  it  is  inconsistent  with  re- 
publican modes  that  overgrown  fortunes  should 
arise  by  means  of  an  early  grasping  of  large  quan- 
tities of  a  cheap  kind  of  property,  which  must  in- 
evitably become  of  the  highest  value  in  course  of 
time.  The  reduction  in  the  price  of  land  would 
probably  have  been  greater,  but  for  the  temptation 
which  the  cheapening  would  hold  out  to  capitalists. 
Another  reason  assigned  for  not  still  further  lower- 
ing the  price  is,  the  danger  of  depreciating  a  kind 
of  property  held  by  the  largest  proportion  of  the 
people.  This  is  obviously  unsound;  since  the 
property  held  by  this  large  proportion  of  the  people 
is  improved  land,  whose  relation  in  value  to  other 
kinds  of  property  is  determined  by  quite  other 
circumstances  than  the  amount  of  the  original  pur- 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  87 

chase-money.  The  number  of  people  who  sell 
again  unimproved  land  is  so  small  as  not  to  be 
worthy  to  enter  into  the  account. 

Large  grants  of  land  have  been  made  to  schools 
and  colleges.  Upwards  of  eight  millions  of  acres 
have,  I  believe,  been  thus  disposed  of.  There 
seems  no  objection  to  this,  at  the  time  it  was  done ; 
as  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  grants  will  be  culti- 
vated that  have  such  an  interest  hanging  on  their 
cultivation.  These  grants  were  made  while  there 
was  a  national  debt.  Now,  there  is  a  surplus  re- 
venue ;  and  appropriations  of  this  kind  had  better 
be  made  henceforth  from  the  money  which  has 
arisen  from  the  sale  of  land  than  in  a  way  which 
would  force  more  land  into  the  market.  It  is  to 
be  hoped,  too,  that  no  more  recompenses  for  public 
service  will  be  offered  in  land,  like  the  large  grants 
which  were  made  to  soldiers  after  the  revolutionary 
war.  The  soldiers  have  disposed  of  their  lands 
much  under  the  government  price,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain a  sale ;  and  the  hurtful  dispersion  of  settlers, 
and  the  sale  of  tracts  too  large  to  be  well- cultivated, 
have  been  thereby  assisted. 

The  great  question  incessantly  repeated  through- 
out the  United  States  is,  what  is  to  be  done  with 
the  immense  amount  of  land  remaining  unsold; 
and  with  the  perpetually  increasing  revenue  arising 
from  the  sale,  as  it  proceeds  ?  Various  proposi- 


88        _  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

tions  are  afloat,— none  of  which  appear  to  me  so 
wise  as  some  which  remain  to  be  offered.  One 
proposition  is  to  divide  the  lands  again  among  the 
States,  apportioning  the  amount  according  to  the 
representation  in  Congress,  or  to  the  population  as 
given  by  the  last  census.  Besides  the  difficulty  of 
making  the  apportionment  fairly,  this  plan  would 
afford  fatal  inducements  to  a  greater  dispersion  of 
people  than  has  yet  taken  place.  It  is  also  argued 
that  no  constitutional  power  exists  by  which  the 
cession  of  1787  can  be  reversed. 

Another  proposition  is,  to  let  the  sale  of  lands 
go  on  as  it  does  now,  and  divide  the  proceeds  among 
the  several  States,  for  purposes  of  Education,  Co- 
lonisation of  the  coloured  race,  and  Internal  Im- 
provements. Under  such  a  plan,  there  would  be 
endless  disputes  about  the  amounts  to  be  paid  over 
to  the  different  States.  The  general  government 
would  have  a  new  and  dangerous  function  assigned 
to  it.  Besides,  as  much  of  the  surplus  revenue  is 
derived  from  duties,  it  seems  a  shorter  and  more 
natural  method  to  leave  off  levying  money  that  is 
not  wanted,  than  to  levy  it,  use  it,  and  make  a  dis- 
tribution of  other  funds  among  the  States.  This 
subject  will,  however,  come  under  consideration 
hereafter. 

Others  propose  that  nothing  should  be  done : 
that  the  lands  should  go  on  being  sold  according  to 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  -       89 

the  present  demand,  and  the  proceeds  to  accumu- 
late, till  some  accident  happens, — a  war,  or  other 
expensive  adventure, — to  help  to  dissipate  them. 
The  first  part  of  the  proposition  will  probably 
stand  good ;  for  it  seems  a  difficult  thing  to  raise 
the  price  of  land  again : — an  impossible  thing,  till 
the  people  shall  show  that  they  understand  the 
case  by  demanding  an  increase  of  price  :  but  the 
second  part  of  the  proposition  cannot  be  acceded 
to.  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  first  principles  of 
democracy  that  large  sums  of  money  should  accu- 
mulate in  the  hands  of  the  general  government. 
The  accumulation  must  be  disposed  of,  and  the 
sources  of  revenue  restrained. 

There  are  modes  of  advantageously  disposing  of 
the  surplus  revenue  which  are  obvious  to  those 
whose  economical  experience  is  precisely  the  re- 
verse of  that  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
They  are  not  likely  to  be  at  present  assented  to, — 
perhaps  even  to  be  tolerated  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  new  world.  Such  as  they  are,  they  will  be 
presented  in  the  next  section. 

The  lowest  price  given  of  late  for  land,  that  I 
heard  of,  was  a  quarter-dollar  per  acre ;  (for  these 
are  not  times  when  three  thousand  acres  are  to  be 
had  for  a  rifle;  and  a  whole  promontory  for  a  suit 
of  clothes  )  Some  good  land  may  be  still  had,  at 
a  distance  from  roads  and  markets,  from  those  who 


90  DISPOSAL    OF   LAND. 

want  to  turn  their  surplus  land  into  money,  for  a 
quarter-dollar  per  acre.  Some  that  I  saw  in  New 
Hampshire  under  these  circumstances  has  ad- 
vanced in  five  years  to  a  dollar  and  a  half  per  acre  : 
and  some  of  about  equal  quality,  about  fifteen 
miles  nearer  to  a  market,  sold  at  the  same  time  for 
ten  dollars  per  acre.  I  saw  some  low  land,  on  the 
banks  of  the  river,  near  Pittsburg,  which  would 
not  sell  at  any  price  a  few  years  ago,  when  salt 
was  brought  over  the  mountains  on  pack-horses, 
and  sold  at  a  dollar  a  quart.  Now  salt  is  obtained 
in  any  quantity  by  digging  near  this  land ;  and  the 
meadow  is  parted  into  lots  of  ten  acres  each,  which 
sell  at  the  rate  of  one  thousand  dollars  per  acre. 
This  is,  no  doubt,  in  prospect  of  the  salt-works 
which  are  destined  to  flourish  here.  The  highest 
price  I  heard  of  being  given  (unless  in  a  similar 
case  in  New  York)  was  for  street  lots  in  Mobile ; 
one  hundred  and  ten  dollars  per  foot  frontage. 

For  agricultural  purposes,  the  price  of  land 
varies,  according  to  its  fertility,  and,  much  more, 
to  its  vicinity  to  a  market,  in  a  manner  which  can- 
not easily  be  specified.  I  think  the  highest  price  I 
heard  of  was  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  acre. 
This  was  in  the  south.  In  the  north  and  west,  I 
heard  of  prices  varying  from  thirty  to  one  hundred 
dollars,  even  in  somewhat  retired  situations.  One 
thing  seems  to  be  granted  on  all  hands :  that  a  set- 


DISPOSAL    OF    LAND.  91 

tier  cannot  fail  of  success,  if  he  takes  good  land,  in 
a  healthy  situation,  at  the  government  price.  If 
he  bestows  moderate  pains  on  his  lot,  he  may  con- 
fidently reckon  on  its  being  worth  at  least  double 
at  the  end  of  the  year :  much  more,  if  there  are 
growing  probabilities  of  a  market. 

The  methods  according  to  which  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands  in  the  United  States  are  conducted 
are  excellent.  The  lots  are  so  divided  as  to  pre- 
clude all  doubt  and  litigation  about  boundaries. 
There  is  a  general  land-office  at  Washington,  and 
a  subordinate  one  in  each  district,  where  all  busi- 
ness can  be  transacted  with  readiness  and  exacti- 
tude. Periodical  sales  are  made  of  lands  which  it 
is  desirable  to  bring  into  the  market.  These  are 
disposed  of  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  advance  of 
the  population  into  the  wilderness  is  thus  made 
more  regular  than  it  would  be  if  there  were  not  a 
rendezvous  in  each  district,  where  it  could  be  as- 
certained how  the  settlement  of  the  neighbouring 
country  was  going  on ;  titles  are  made  more  secure ; 
and  less  impunity  is  allowed  to  fraud. 

The  pre-emption  laws,  originally  designed  for 
the  benefit  of  poor  settlers,  have  been  the  greatest 
provocatives  to  fraud.  It  seemed  hard  that  a  squat- 
ter, who  had  settled  himself  on  unoccupied  land,  and 
done  it  nothing  but  good,  should  be  turned  off  with- 
out remuneration,  or  compelled  to  purchase  his 


92  DISPOSAL    OF    LAND. 

own  improvements;  and  in  1830,  a  bill  was  there- 
fore passed,  granting  a  pre-emption  right  to  squat- 
ters who  had  taken  such  possession  of  unsold  lands. 
It  provided  that  when  two  individuals  had  culti- 
vated a  quarter  section  of  land,  (one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,)  each  should  have  a  pre-emption  right 
with  regard  to  half  the  cultivated  portion  :  and 
each  also  to  a  pre-emption  of  eighty  acres  any- 
where else  in  the  same  land  district.  Of  course, 
abundance  of  persons  took  advantage  of  this  law  to 
get  the  best  land  very  cheap.  Two  men,  by 
merely  cutting  down,  or  blazing  a  few  trees,  or 
"  camping  out"  for  a  night  or  two,  on  a  good 
quarter-section,  have  secured  it  at  the  minimum 
price.  A  Report  to  Congress  states  that  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  "  large  companies  have  been 
founded,  who  procure  affidavits  of  improvements  to 
be  made,  get  the  warrants  issued  upon  them,  and 
whenever  a  good  tract  of  land  is  ready  for  sale, 
cover  it  over  with  their  floats,  (warrants  of  the  re- 
quired habitation,)  and  thus  put  down  competition. 
The  frauds  upon  the  public,  within  the  past  year, 
(1835,)  from  this  single  source,  have  arisen  to 
many  millions  of  dollars."  Such  errors  in  matters 
of  detail  are  sure  to  be  corrected  soon  after  being 
discovered.  The  means  will  speedily  be  found  of 
showing  a  due  regard  to  the  claims  of  squatters, 
without  precipitating  the  settlement  of  land  by  un- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  93 

fairly  reducing  its  price  in  the  market.  Whatever 
methods  may  tend  to  lessen  rather  than  to  increase 
the  facilities  for  occupying  new  land,  must,  on  the 
whole,  be  an  advantage,  while  the  disproportion 
between  land  and  labour  is  so  great  as  it  now  is  in 
the  western  regions  of  the  United  States. 


SECTION  II. 

RURAL     LABOUR. 

English  farmers  settling  in  the  United  States 
used  to  be  a  joke  to  their  native  neighbours.  The 
Englishman  began  with  la.ughing,  or  being  shocked, 
at  the  slovenly  methods  of  cultivation  employed  by 
the  American  settlers :  he  was  next  seen  to  look 
grave  on  his  own  account ;  and  ended  by  following 
the  American  plan. 

The  American  ploughs  round  the  stumps  of  the 
trees  he  has  felled,  and  is  not  very  careful  to  mea- 
sure the  area  he  ploughs,  and  the  seed  he  sows. 
The  Englishman  clears  half  the  quantity  of  land, — 
clears  it  very  thoroughly ;  ploughs  deep,  sows 
thick,  raises  twice  the  quantity  of  grain  on  half 
the  area  of  land,  and  points  proudly  to  his  crop. 


94  RURAL   LABOUR. 

But  the  American  has,  meantime,  fenced,  cleared, 
and  sown  more  land,  improved  his  house  and  stock, 
and  kept  his  money  in  his  pocket.  The  English- 
man has  paid  for  the  labour  bestowed  on  his  beau- 
tiful fields  more  than  his  fine  crop  repays  him. 
When  he  has  done  thus  for  a  few  seasons,  till  his 
money  is  gone,  he  learns  that  he  has  got  to  a  place 
where  it  answers  to  spend  land  to  save  labour ;  the 
reverse  of  his  experience  in  England ;  and  he  soon 
becomes  as  slovenly  a  farmer  as  the  American,  and 
begins  immediately  to  grow  rich. 

It  would  puzzle  a  philosopher  to  compute  how 
long  some  prejudices  will  subsist  in  defiance  of, 
not  only  evidence,  but  personal  experience.  These 
same  Americans,  who  laugh  (reasonably  enough) 
at  the  prejudiced  English  farmer,  seem  themselves 
incapable  of  being  convinced  on  a  point  quite  as 
plain  as  that  between  him  and  themselves.  The 
very  ground  of  their  triumph  over  him  is  their 
knowledge  of  the  much  smaller  value  of  land,  and 
greater  value  of  labour,  in  America  than  in  Eng- 
land :  and  yet,  there  is  no  one  subject  on  which  so 
many  complaints  are  to  be  heard  from  every  class 
of  American  society  as  the  immigration  of  foreign- 
ers, The  incapacity  of  men  to  recognise  blessings 
in  disguise  has  been  the  theme  of  moralists  in  all 
ages :  but  it  might  be  expected  that  the  Americans, 
in  this  case,  would  be  an  exception.  It  is  wonder- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  95 

ful,  to  a  stranger,  to  see  how  they  fret  and  toil, 
and  scheme  and  invent,  to  supply  the  deficiency  of 
help,  and  all  the  time  quarrel  with  the  one  means 
by  which  labour  is  brought  to  their  door.  The 
immigration  of  foreigners  was  the  one  complaint 
by  which  I  was  met  in  every  corner  of  the  free 
States;  and  I  really  believe  I  did  not  converse 
with  a  dozen  persons  who  saw  the  ultimate  good 
through  the  present  apparent  evil. 

It  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at  that  gentle- 
men and  ladies,  living  in  Boston  and  New  York, 
and  seeing,  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives,  half- 
naked  and  squalid  persons,  in  the  street,  should 
ask  where  they  come  from,  and  fear  lest  they 
should  infect  others  with  their  squalor,  and  wish 
they  would  keep  away.  It  is  not  much  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  the  managers  of  charitable  institu- 
tions in  the  maritime  cities  should  be  weary  of  the 
claims  advanced  by  indigent  foreigners :  but  it  is 
surprising  that  these  gentlemen  and  ladies  should 
not  learn  by  experience  that  all  this  ends  well,  and 
that  matters  are  taking  their  natural  course.  It 
would  certainly  be  better  that  the  emigrants  should 
be  well  clothed,  educated,  respectable  people ;  (ex- 
cept that,  in  that  case,  they  would  probably  never 
arrive;)  but  the  blame  of  their  bad  condition  rests 
elsewhere,  while  their  arrival  is,  generally  speaking, 
almost  a  pure  benefit.  Some  are  intemperate  and 


96  RURAL    LABOUR. 

profligate ;  and  such  are,  no  doubt,  a  great  injury 
to  the  cities  where  they  harbour;  but  the  greater 
number  show  themselves  decent  and  hardworking 
enough,  when  put  into  employment.  Every  Ame- 
rican acknowledges  that  few  or  no  canals  or  rail- 
roads would  be  in  existence  now,  in  the  United 
States,  but  for  the  Irish  labour  by  which  they  have 
been  completed  :  and  the  best  cultivation  that  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  land  is  owing  to  the  Dutch  and  Ger- 
mans it  contains.  What  would  housekeepers  do 
for  domestic  service  without  foreigners?  If  the 
American  ports  had  been  barred  against  immigra- 
tion, and  the  sixty  thousand  foreigners  per  annum, 
with  all  their  progeny,  had  been  excluded,  where 
would  now  have  been  the  public  works  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  the  agriculture,  the  shipping  ? 

The  most  emphatic  complainers  of  the  immigra- 
tion of  foreigners  are  those  who  imagine  that  the 
morals  of  society  suffer  thereby.  My  own  convic- 
tion is  that  the  morals  of  society  are,  on  the  whole, 
thereby  much  improved.  It  is  candidly  allowed, 
on  all  hands,  that  the  passion  of  the  Irish  for  the 
education  of  their  children  is  a  great  set-off  against 
the  bad  qualities  some  of  them  exhibit  in  their  own 
persons ;  and  that  the  second  and  third  generations 
of  Irish  are  among  the  most  valuable  citizens  of  the 
republic.  The  immigrant  Germans  are  more  sober 
and  respectable  than  the  Irish ;  but  there  is  more 


RURAL    LABOUR,  97 

difficulty  in  improving  them  and  their  children. 
The  Scotch  are  in  high  esteem.  My  own  opinion 
is  that  most  of  the  evils  charged  upon  the  immi- 
grants are  chargeable  upon  the  mismanagement  of 
them  in  the  ports.  The  atrocious  corruption  of 
the  New  York  elections,  where  an  Irishman,  just 
landed,  and  employed  upon  the  drains,  perjures 
himself,  and  votes  nine  times  over,  is  chargeable, 
not  upon  immigration,  nor  yet  upon  universal  suf- 
frage, but  upon  faults  in  the  machinery  of  registra- 
tion. Again,  if  the  great  pauper-palace,  over  the 
Schuylkill,  near  Philadelphia,  be  half  full  of  fo- 
reigners ;  if  it  be  true  that  an  Irish  woman  was 
seen  to  walk  round  it,  and  heard  to  observe  that 
she  should  immediately  write  over  for  all  her 
relations ;  the  evil  is  chargeable  upon  there  being 
a  pauper-palace,  with  the  best  of  food  and  clothing, 
and  no  compulsion  to  work,  in  a  country  where 
there  is  far  more  work  and  wages  than  there  are 
hands  to  labour  and  earn.  There  is  in  New  York 
a  benevolent  gentleman  who  exercises  a  most  use- 
ful and  effectual  charity.  He  keeps  a  kind  of  re- 
gistry office  for  the  demand  and  supply  of  emigrant 
labour;  takes  charge  of  the  funds  of  such  emi- 
grants as  are  fortunate  enough  to  have  any;  and 
befriends  them  in  every  way.  He  declares  that  he 
has  an  average  of  six  situations  on  his  list  ready 

VOL.  II.  F 


98  RURAL    LABOUR. 

for  every  sober,  able-bodied  man  and  woman  that 
lands  at  New  York. 

The  bad  moral  consequences  of  a  dispersion  of 
agricultural  labour,  and  the  good  moral  effects  of  an 
adequate  combination,  are  so  serious  as  to  render  it 
the  duty  of  good  citizens  to  inform  themselves  fully 
of  the  bearings  of  this  question  before  they  attempt 
to  influence  other  minds  upon  it.    Those  who  have 
seen  what  are  the  morals  and  manners  of  families 
who  live  alone  in  the  wilds,  with  no  human  opinion 
around  them,  no  neighbours   with  whom   to   ex- 
change good  offices,  no  stimulus  to  mental  activity, 
no  social  amusements,  no  church,  no  life,  nothing 
but  the  pursuit  of  the  outward  means  of  living, — any 
one  who  has  witnessed  this  will  be  ready  to  agree 
what  a  blessing  it  would  be  to  such  a  family  to 
shake  down  a  shower  of  even  poor  Irish  labourers 
around  them.     To  such  a  family  no  tidings  ought 
to  be  more  welcome  than  of  the  arrival  of  ship-load 
after  ship-load  of  immigrants  at  the  ports,  some 
few   of  whom   may  wander  hitherwards,    and   by 
entering  into  a  combination  of  labour   to   obtain 
means   of  living,   open    a  way  to  the  attainment 
of  the  ends.     Sixty  thousand  immigrants  a-year ! 
What  are  these  spread    over  so  many   thousand 
square  miles?     If  the   country   could   be  looked 
down  upon  from  a  balloon,  some  large  clusters  of 


RURAL    LABOUR.  99 

these  would  be  seen  detained  in  the  cities,  because 
they  could  not  be  spared  into  the  country ;  other 
clusters  would  be  seen  about  the  canals  and  rail- 
roads ;  and  a  very  slight  sprinkling  in  the  back 
country,  where  their  stations  would  be  marked  by 
the  prosperity  growing  up  around  them. 

The  expedients  used  in  the  country  settlements 
to  secure  a  combination  of  labour  when  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary,  show  how  eminently  deficient  it 
is.  Every  one  has  heard  of  the  "  frolic"  or  "  bee," 
by  means  of  which  the  clearing  of  lots,  the 
raising  of  houses,  the  harvesting  of  crops  is 
achieved.  Roads  are  made,  and  kept  by  contribu- 
tions of  labour  and  teams,  by  settlers.  For  the 
rest,  what  can  be  done  by  family  labour  alone  is  so 
done,  with  great  waste  of  time,  material,  and  toil. 
The  wonderful  effects  of  a  "  frolic,"  in  every  way, 
should  serve,  in  contrast  with  the  toil  and  difficulty 
usually  expended  in  producing  small  results,  to 
incline  the  hearts  of  settlers  towards  immigrants, 
and  to  plan  how  an  increase  of  them  may  be  ob- 
tained. 

Minds  are,  I  hope,  beginning  to  turn  in  this 
direction.  In  New  England,  where  there  is  the 
most  combination  of  labour,  and  the  poorest  land,  it 
is  amusing  to  see  the  beginning  of  discoveries  on  this 
head.  I  find,  in  the  United  States'  Almanack  for 
1835,  an  article  on  agricultural  improvements,  {pre- 

F2 


100  RURAL    LABOUR. 

supposing  a  supply  of  labour  as  the  primary  requi- 
site, )  which  bears  all  the  marks  of  freshness  and  ori- 
ginality, of  having  been  a  discovery  of  the  writer's. 

"  If  such  improvements  as  are  possible,  or  even 
easy,"  (where  there  is  labour  at  hand,)  "  were 
made  in  the  husbandry  of  this  country,  many  and 
great  advantages  would  be  found  to  arise.  As 
twice  the  number  of  people  might  be  supported  on 
the  same  quantity  of  land,  all  our  farming  towns 
would  become  twice  as  populous  as  they  are  likely 
to  be  in  the  present  state  of  husbandry.  There 
would  be,  in  general,  but  half  the  distance  to  travel 
to  visit  one's  friends  and  acquaintances.  Friends 
might  oftener  see  and  converse  with  each  other. 
Half  the  labour  would  be  saved  in  carrying  the 
corn  to  mill,  and  the  produce  to  market;  half  the 
journeying  saved  in  attending  our  courts ;  and  half 
the  expense  in  supporting  government,  and  in 
making  and  repairing  roads ;  half  the  distance 
saved  in  going  to  the  smith,  weaver,  clothier,  &c.  ; 
half  the  distance  saved  in  going  to  public  worship, 
and  most  other  meetings ;  for  where  steeples  are 
four  miles  apart,  they  would  be  only  two  or  three. 
Much  time,  expense  and  labour  would,  on  these  ac- 
counts, be  saved ;  and  civilisation,  with  all  the  so- 
cial virtues,  would,  perhaps,  be  proportionally  pro- 
moted and  increased." 

Before  this  can  be  done,  there  must  be  hands  to 


RURAL    LABOUR.  101 

do  it.  Steeples  must  remain  four  or  fourteen  miles 
apart,  till  there  are  beings  enough  in  the  interven- 
ing space  to  draw  them  together.  I  saw,  on  the 
Mississippi,  a  woman  in  a  canoe,  paddling  up  against 
the  stream ;  probably,  as  I  was  told,  to  visit  a 
neighbour  twenty  or  thirty  miles  off.  The  only 
comfort  was  that  the  current  would  bring  her  back 
four  times  as  quickly  as  she  went  up.  What  a 
blessing  would  a  party  of  emigrant  neighbours  be 
to  a  woman  who  would  row  herself  twenty  miles 
against  the  stream  of  the  Mississippi  for  companion- 
ship ! 

Instead  of  complaining  of  the  sixty  thousand 
emigrants  per  annum,  and  lowering  the  price  of 
land,  so  as  to  induce  dispersion,  it  would  be  wise,  if 
it  were  possible,  in  the  people  of  the  United  States 
to  bring  in  sixty  thousand  more  labourers  per  an- 
num, and  raise  the  price  of  land.  This  last  can- 
not, perhaps,  be  done:  but  why  should  not  the 
other  ?  With  a  surplus  revenue  that  they  do  not 
know  what  to  do  with,  and  a  scarcity  of  the  labour 
which  they  do  not  know  how  to  do  without,  why 
not  use  the  surplus  funds  accruing  from  the  lands 
in  carrying  labour  to  the  soil  ? 

It  is  true,  Europeans  have  the  same  passion  for 
land  as  the  Americans ;  and  such  immigrants  would 
leave  their  employers,  and  buy  for  themselves,  as 
soon  as  they  had  earned  the  requisite  funds :  but 


102  RURAL    LABOUR. 

these,  again,  would  supply  the  means  of  bringing 
over  more  labour ;  and  the  intermediate  services  of 
the  labourers  would  be  so  much  gained.  If  the 
arrangements  were  so  made  as  to  bring  over  sober, 
respectable  labourers,  without  their  being  in  any 
way  bound  to  servitude,  (as  a  host  of  poor  Ger- 
mans once  were  made  white  slaves  of,)  if,  the  land 
and  labour  being  once  brought  together,  and  repay- 
ment from  the  benefited  parties  being  secured,  (if 
desired,)  things  were  then  left  to  take  their  natural 
course,  a  greater  blessing  could  hardly  befal  the 
United  States  than  such  an  importation  of  la- 
bourers. 

I  was  told,  in  every  eastern  city,  that  it  was  a 
common  practice  with  parish  officers  in  England 
to  ship  off  their  paupers  to  the  United  States.  I 
took  some  pains  to  investigate  the  grounds  of  this 
charge,  and  am  convinced  that  it  is  a  mistake  ;  that 
the  accusation  has  arisen  out  of  some  insulated  case. 
I  was  happy  to  be  able  to  show  my  American 
friends  how  the  supposed  surplus  population  of  the 
English  agricultural  counties  has  shrunk,  and  in 
some  cases  disappeared,  under  the  operation  of  the 
new  Poor  Law,  so  that,  even  if  the  charge  had  ever 
been  true,  it  could  not  long  remain  so.  By  the 
time  that  we  shall  be  enabled  to  say  the  same  of  the 
parishes  of  Ireland,  the  Americans  will,  doubtless, 
have  discovered  that  they  would  be  glad  of  all  the 


RURAL    LABOUR.  103 

labourers  we  had  ever  been  able  to  spare ;  if  only 
we  could  send  them  in  the  form  of  respectable  men 
and  women,  instead  of  squalid  paupers,  looking  as 
if  they  were  going  from  shore  to  shore,  to  rouse 
the  world  to  an  outcry  against  the  sins  and  sorrows 
of  our  economy. 

It  will  scarcely  be  credited  by  those  who  are  not 
already  informed  on  the  subject,  that  a  proposition 
has  been  made  to  send  out  of  the  country  an  equal 
number  of  persons  to  the  amount  brought  into  it ; 
ship  loads  of  labourers  going  to  and  fro,  like 
buckets  in  a  well :  that  this  proposition  has  been 
introduced  into  Congress,  and  has  been  made  the 
basis  of  appropriations  in  some  State  legislatures : 
that  itinerant  lecturers  are  employed  to  advocate 
the  scheme :  that  it  is  preached  from  the  pulpit, 
and  subscribed  for  in  the  churches,  and  that  in  its 
behalf  are  enlisted  members  of  the  administration, 
a  great  number  of  the  leading  politicians,  clergy, 
merchants,  and  planters,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  other  citizens  of  the  United  States.  It  matters 
little  how  many  or  how  great  are  the  men  engaged 
in  behalf  of  a  bad  scheme,  which  is  so  unnatural 
that  it  cannot  but  fail : — it  matters  little,  as  far  as 
the  scheme  itself  is  concerned ;  but  it  is  of  incalcu- 
lable consequence  as  creating  an  obstruction.  For 
itself,  the  miserable  abortion — the  Colonisation 


104  RURAL    LABOUR. 

scheme — might  be  passed  over;  for  its  active  re- 
sults will  be  nothing ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  refer  to 
it  in  its  passive  character  of  an  obstruction.  It  is 
necessary  to  refer  thus  to  it,  not  only  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  but  because,  absurd  and  impracticable  as 
the  scheme  clearly  is,  when  viewed  in  relation  to 
the  whole  state  of  affairs  in  America,  it  is  not  so 
easy  on  the  spot  to  discern  its  true  character.  So 
many  perplexing  considerations  are  mixed  up  with 
it  by  its  advocates  ;  so  many  of  those  advocates  are 
men  of  earnest  philanthropy,  and  well  versed  in  the 
details  of  the  scheme,  while  blind  to  its  general 
bearing,  that  it  is  difficult  to  have  general  princi- 
ples always  in  readiness  to  meet  opposing  facts ;  to 
help  adopting  the  partial  views  of  well-meaning 
and  thoroughly  persuaded  persons ;  and  to  know 
where  to  doubt,  and  what  to  disbelieve.  I  went  to 
America  extremely  doubtful  about  the  character  of 
this  institution.  I  heard  at  Baltimore  and  Wash- 
ington all  that  could  be  said  in  its  favour,  by  per- 
sons conversant  with  slavery,  which  I  had  not  then 
seen.  Mr.  Madison,  the  President  of  the  Coloni- 
sation Society,  gave  me  his  favourable  views  of  it. 
Mr.  Clay,  the  Vice-President,  gave  me  his.  So  did 
almost  every  clergyman  and  other  member  of  so- 
ciety whom  I  met  for  some  months.  Much  time, 
observation,  and  reflection  were  necessary  to  form  a 
judgment  for  myself,  after  so  much  prepossession, 


RURAL    LABOUR.  105 

even  in  so  clear  a  case  as  I  now  see  this  to  be. 
Others  on  the  spot  must  have  the  same  allowance 
as  was  necessary  for  me :  and,  if  any  pecuniary  in- 
terest be  involved  in  the  question,  much  more.  But, 
T  am  firmly  persuaded  that  any  clear-headed  man, 
shutting  himself  up  in  his  closet  for  a  day's  study 
of  the  question,  or  taking  a  voyage,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  look  back  upon  the  entire  country  he  has  left, — 
being  careful  to  take  in  the  whole  of  its  economical 
aspect,  (to  say  nothing,  at  present,  of  the  moral,) 
can  come  to  no  other  conclusion  than  that  the 
scheme  of  transporting  the  coloured  population  of 
the  United  States  to  the  coast  of  Africa  is  abso- 
lutely absurd ;  and,  if  it  were  not  so,  would  be  ab- 
solutely pernicious,  But,  in  matters  of  economy, 
the  pernicious  and  the  absurd  are  usually  iden- 
tical 

No  one  is  to  be  blamed  for  the  origin  of  slavery. 
Because  it  is  now,  under  conviction,  wicked,  it  does 
not  follow  that  it  was  instituted  in  wickedness. 
Those  who  began  it,  knew  not  what  they  did.  It 
has  been  elsewhere*  ably  shown  how  slavery  has 
always,  and,  to  all  appearance,  unavoidably  existed, 
in  some  form  or  other,  wherever  large  new  tracts  of 
land  have  been  taken  possession  of  by  a  few  agricul- 
tural settlers.  Let  it  be  granted  that  negro  slavery 
was  begun  inadvertently  in  the  West  India  islands, 

*  England  and  America. 

F5 


106  RURAL    LABOUR. 

and  continued,  by  an  economical  necessity,  in  the 
colonies  of  North  America. 

What  is  now  the  state  of  the  case  ?  Slavery,  of  a 
very  mild  kind,  has  been  abolished  in  the  northern 
parts  of  the  Union,  where  agricultural  labour  can 
be  carried  on  by  whites,  and  where  such  employ- 
ments bear  a  very  reduced  proportion  to  manufac- 
turing and  commercial  occupations.  Its  introduc- 
tion into  the  north-western  portions  of  the  country 
has  been  prohibited  by  those  who  had  had  expe- 
rience of  its  evils.  Slavery,  generally  of  a  very 
aggravated  character,  now  subsists  in  thirteen 
States  out  of  twenty-six,  and  those  thirteen  are 
the  States  which  grow  the  tobacco,  rice,  cotton 
and  sugar;  it  being  generally  alleged  that  rice 
and  sugar  cannot  be  raised  by  white  labour, 
while  some  maintain  that  they  may.  I  found 
few  who  doubted  that  tobacco  and  cotton  may  be 
grown  by  white  labour,  with  the  assistance  from 
brute  labour  and  machinery  which  would  follow 
upon  the  disuse  of  human  capital.  The  amount 
of  the  slave  population  is  now  above  two  millions 
and  a  half.  It  increases  rapidly  in  the  States  which 
have  been  impoverished  by  slavery ;  and  is  killed 
off,  but  not-with  equal  rapidity,  on  the  virgin  soils 
to  which  alone  it  is,  in  any  degree,  appropriate. 
It  has  become  unquestionably  inappropriate  in 
Maryland,  Delaware,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky.  To 
these  I  should  be  disposed  to  add  Missouri,  and 


RURAL    LABOUR.  107 

North  Carolina,  and  part  of  Tennessee  and  South 
Carolina.  The  States  which  have  more  slave  la- 
bour than  their  deteriorated  lands  require,  sell  it  to 
those  which  have  a  deficiency  of  labour  to  their 
rich  lands.  Virginia,  now  in  a  very  depressed  con- 
dition, derives  her  chief  revenue  from  the  rear- 
ing of  slaves,  as  stock,  to  be  sent  to  Alabama,  Mis- 
sissippi, and  Louisiana.  The  march  of  circum- 
stance has  become  too  obvious  to  escape  the  atten- 
tion of  the  most  short-sighted.  No  one  can  fail  to 
perceive  that  slavery,  like  an  army  of  locusts,  is  com- 
pelled to  shift  its  place,  by  the  desolation  it  has 
made.  Its  progress  is  southwards ;  and  now,  having 
reached  the  sea  there,  south-westwards.  If  there 
were  but  an  impassable  barrier  there,  its  doom 
would  be  certain,  and  not  very  remote.  This  doom 
was  apparently  sealed  a  while  ago,  by  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  Mexico,  and  the  fair  chance  there 
seemed  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  being  subjected 
to  a  restriction  of  the  same  purport  with  that  im- 
posed on  the  new  States,  north-west  of  the  Ohio. 
This  doom  has  been,  for  the  present,  cancelled  by 
the  admission  of  slavery  into  Missouri  and  Arkan- 
sas, and  by  the  seizure  of  Texas  by  American  citi- 
zens. The  open  question,  however,  only  regards 
its  final  limits.  Its  speedy  abolition  in  many  of  the 
States  may  be,  and  is,  regarded  as  certain. 

The  institution  of  slavery  was  a  political  anoma- 


108  RURAL    LABOUR. 

ly  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution.  It  has  now  be- 
come an  economical  one  also.  Nothing  can  pre- 
vent the  generality  of  persons  from  seeing  this, 
however  blind  a  few,  a  very  few  persons  on  the  spot 
may  be  to  the  truth.* 

It  has  thus  obviously  become  the  interest  of  all 
to  whom  slavery  still  is,  or  is  believed  to  be,  a  gain  ; 
of  those  who  hold  the  richest  lands ;  of  those  who 
rear  slaves  for  such  lands ;  of  all  who  dread  change  ; 
of  all  who  would  go  quietly  through  life,  and  leave 
it  to  a  future  generation  to  cope  with  their  difficul- 
ty,— it  has  become  the  interest  of  all  such  to  turn 
their  own  attention  and  that  of  others  from  the 
fact  that  the  time  has  come  when  the  slaves  ought 
to  be  made  free  labourers.  They  cannot  put  down 
the  fact  into  utter  silence.  Some  sort  of  compro- 
mise must  be  made  with  it.  A  tub  must  be  thrown 
to  the  whale.  A  tub  has  been  found  which  will 
almost  hold  the  whale. 

*  It  may  surprise  some  that  I  speak  of  those  who  are  blind  to 
slavery  being  an  anomaly  in  economy  as  '  few.'  Among  the  many 
hundreds  of  persons  in  the  slave  States,  with  whom  I  conversed 
on  the  subject  of  slavery,  1  met  with  only  one,  a  lady,  who  de- 
fended the  institution  altogether:  and  with  perhaps  four  or  five 
who  defended  it  as  necessary  to  a  purpose  which  must  be  fulfilled, 
and  could  not  be  fulfilled  otherwise.  All  the  rest  who  vindicated 
its  present  existence  did  so  on  the  ground  of  the  impossibility  of 
doing  it  away.  A  very  large  number  avowed  that  it  was  indefen- 
sible in  every  point  of  view. 


RURAL    LABOUR.  109 

It  is  proposed  by  the  Colonisation  Society  that 
free  persons  of  colour  shall  be  sent  to  establish  and 
conduct  a  civilised  community  on  the  shores  of 
Africa.  The  variety  of  prospects  held  out  by  this 
proposition  to  persons  of  different  views  is  remarka- 
ble. To  the  imaginative,  there  is  the  picture  of 
the  restoration  of  the  coloured  race  to  their  paternal 
soil :  to  the  religious,  the  prospect  of  evangelising 
Africa.  Those  who  would  serve  God  and  Mam- 
mon are  delighted  at  being  able  to  work  their  slaves 
during  their  own  lives,  and  then  leave  them  to  the 
Colonisation  Society  with  a  bequest  of  money, 
(when  money  must  needs  be  left  behind,)  to  carry 
them  over  to  Africa.  Those  who  would  be  doing, 
in  a  small  way,  immediately,  let  certain  of  their 
slaves  work  for  wages  which  are  to  carry  them 
over  to  Africa.  Those  who  have  slaves  too  clever 
or  discontented  to  be  safe  neighbours,  can  ship 
them  off  to  Africa.  Those  who  are  afraid  of  the 
rising  intelligence  of  their  free  coloured  neigh- 
bours, or  suffer  strongly  under  the  prejudice  of 
colour,  can  exercise  such  social  tyranny  as  shall 
drive  such  troublesome  persons  to  Africa,  The 
clergy,  public  lecturers,  members  of  legislatures, 
religious  societies,  and  charitable  individuals,  both 
in  the  north  and  south,  are  believed  to  be,  and  be- 
lieve themselves  to  be,  labouring  on  behalf  of  slaves, 
when  they  preach,  lecture,  obtain  appropriations, 


110  RURAL    LABOUR. 

and  subscribe,  on  behalf  of  the  Colonisation  So- 
ciety. Minds  and  hearts  are  laid  to  rest, — opiated 
into  a  false  sleep. 

Here  are  all  manner  of  people  associated  for 
one  object,  which  has  the  primary  advantage  of 
being  ostensibly  benevolent.  It  has  had  Mr.  Ma- 
dison for  its  chief  officer :  Mr.  Clay  for  its  second. 
It  has  had  the  aid,  for  twenty  years,  of  almost  all 
the  presses  and  pulpits  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  most  of  their  politicians,  members  of  govern- 
ment, and  leading  professional  men  and  merchants, 
and  almost  all  the  planters  of  twelve  states,  and 
all  the  missionary  interest.  Besides  the  subscrip- 
tions arising  from  so  many  sources,  there  have  been 
large  appropriations  made  by  various  legislatures. 
What  is  the  result? — Nothing.  Ex  nihilo  nihiljit. 
Out  of  a  chaos  of  elements  no  orderly  creation  can 
arise  but  by  the  operation  of  a  sound  principle  : 
and  sound  principle  here,  there  is  none. 

In  twenty  years,  the  Colonisation  Society  has 
removed  to  Africa  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand persons ;  *  while  the  annual  increase  of  the 
slave  population  is,  by  the  lowest  computation, 
sixty  thousand ;  and  the  number  of  free  blacks  is 
upwards  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand. 

*  With  the  condition  of  the  African  colony,  we  have  here 
nothing  to  do.  We  are  now  considering  the  Colonisation  Society 
in  its  professed  relation  to  American  slavery. 


RURAL    LABOUR.  Ill 

The  chief  officers  of  the  Colonisation  Society 
look  forward  to  being  able,  in  a  few  years,  to  carry 
off  the  present  annual  increase,  and  a  few  more ; 
by  which  time  the  annual  increase  will  amount  to 
many  times  more  than  the  Society  will  have  car- 
ried out  from  the  beginning. 

The  leading  Colonisation  advocates  in  the  south 
object  to  abolition,  invariably  on  the  ground  that 
they  should  be  left  without  labourers  :  whereas  it 
is  the  Colonisation  scheme  which  would  carry  away 
the  labourers,  and  the  abolition  scheme  which 
would  leave  them  where  they  are.  To  say  no- 
thing of  the  wilfulness  of  this  often-confuted  ob- 
jection, it  proves  that  those  who  urge  it  are  not 
in  earnest  in  advocating  Colonisation  as  ultimate 
emancipation. 

As  far  as  I  could  learn,  no  leading  member  of 
the  Colonisation  Society  has  freed  any  of  his  slaves. 
Its  president  had  sold  twelve,  the  week  before  I 
first  saw  him.  Its  vice-president  is  obscde  by  his 
slaves ;  but  retains  them  all.  And  so  it  is,  through 
the  whole  hierarchy. 

The  avowal  of  a  southern  gentleman,—  "  We  have 
our  slaves,  and  we  mean  to  keep  them," — is  echoed 
on  political  occasions  by  the  same  gentlemen  of  the 
Colonisation  Society,  who,  on  politic  or  religious 
occasions,  treat  of  colonisation  as  ultimate  eman- 
cipation. 


132  RURAL    LABOUR. 

While  labourers  are  flocking  into  other  parts  of 
the  country,  at  the  rate  of  sixty  thousand  per  an- 
num, and  are  found  to  be  far  too  few  for  the  wants 
of  society,  the  Colonisation  scheme  proposes  to 
carry  out  more  than  this  number ;  and  fails  of  all 
its  ostensible  objects  till  it  does  so.  A  glance  at 
the  causes  of  slavery,  and  at  the  present  economy 
of  the  United  States,  shows  such  a  scheme  to  be 
a  bald  fiction. 

It  alienates  the  attention  and  will  of  the  people, 
(for  the  purposes  of  the  few,)  from  the  principle  of 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  which  would  achieve  any 
honest  objects  of  the  Colonisation  Society,  and 
many  more.  Leaving,  for  the  present,  the  moral 
consideration  of  the  case,  abolition  would  not  only 
leave  the  land  as  full  of  labourers  as  it  is  now,  but 
incalculably  augment  the  supply  of  labour  by  sub- 
stituting willing  and  active  service,  and  improved 
methods  of  husbandry,  for  the  forced,  inferior  la- 
bour, and  wasteful  arrangements  which  are  always 
admitted  to  be  co-existent  with  slavery. 

The  greater  number  of  eminent  Abolitionists, — 
eminent  for  talents,  zeal  and  high  principle, — are 
converted  Colonisationists. 

This  is  surely  enough. 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  Colonisation  Society 
could  never  have  gained  any  ground  at  all,  but  for 
the  common  supposition  that  the  blacks  must  go 


RURAL    LABOUR.  113 

somewhere.  It  was  a  long  while  before  I  could 
make  anything  of  this.  The  argument  always  ran 
thus. 

"  Unless  they  remain  as  they  are,  Africa  is 
the  only  place  for  them. — It  will  not  do  to  give 
them  a  territory ;  we  have  seen  enough  of  that  with 
the  Indians.  We  are  heart-sick  of  territories  :  the 
blacks  would  all  perish. — Then,  the  climate  of  Ca- 
nada would  not  suit  them  :  they  would  perish  there. 
The  Haytians  will  not  take  them  in :  they  have  a 
horror  of  freed  slaves. — There  is  no  rest  for  the 
soles  of  their  feet,  anywhere  but  in  Africa  !" 
"  Why  should  they  not  stay  where  they  are?' 
"  Impossible.  The  laws  of  the  States  forbid  freed 
negroes  to  remain." 

"  At  present, — on  account  of  the  slaves  who  re- 
main. In  case  of  abolition,  such  laws  would  be 
repealed,  of  course :  and  then,  why  should  not  the 
blacks  remain  where  they  are  ?' 

"  They  could  never  live  among  the  whites  in  a 
state  of  freedom." 

"  Why  ?  You  are  begging  the  question." 
"  They  would  die  of  vice  and  misery." 
"  Why  more  than  the  German  labourers  ?" 
"  They  do  in  the  free  States.     They  are  dying 
out  there  constantly." 

"What  makes  them  more  vicious  than  other 
people  ?" 


114  RURAL    LABOUR. 

"  The  coloured  people  always  are." 

"  You  mean  because  their  colour  is  the  badge  of 
slavery  ?" 

«  Yes." 

"  Then,  when  it  is  no  longer  so,  the  degradation, 
for  aught  you  know,  will  cease." 

This  is  the  circle,  described  by  those  who  pity  the 
slaves.  There  is  another,  appropriate  to  those  who 
pity  the  masters. 

"  What  is  to  become  of  the  planters,  without  any 
labourers  ?  They  must  shut  up  and  go  away ;  for 
they  cannot  stay  in  their  houses,  without  any  la- 
bourers on  the  plantations." 

"  Are  the  slaves  to  be  all  buried  ?  Or  are  they 
to  evaporate  ?  or  what?" 

"  O,  you  know,  they  would  all  go  away.  No- 
thing would  make  them  stay  when  they  were  once 
free." 

"  They  would  change  masters,  no  doubt.  But 
as  many  would  remain  in  the  area  as  before.  Why 
not?" 

"  The  masters  could  not  possibly  employ  them. 
They  could  never  manage  them,  except  as  slaves." 

"  So  you  think  that  the  masters  could  not  have 
the  labourers,  because  they  would  go  away :  and 
the  labourers  must  go  away,  because  the  masters 
would  not  have  them." 

To  prevent  any  escape  by  a  nibble  in  this  circle, 


RURAL    LABOUR.  115 

the  other  is  brought  up  round  it,  to  prove  that  there 
is  no  other  place  than  Africa  for  the  blacks  to  go 
to :  and  thus,  the  alternative  of  slavery  or  coloni- 
sation is  supposed  to  be  established. 

All  action,  and  all  conversation,  on  behalf  of  this 
institution,  bears  the  same  character, — of  arguing  in 
a  circle.  A  magic  ring  seems  drawn  round  those 
who  live  amidst  slavery ;  and  it  gives  a  circular 
character  to  all  they  think  and  say  and  do  upon  the 
subject.  There  are  but  few  who  sit  within  it  who 
distinctly  see  anything  beyond  it.  If  there  were  but 
any  one  moral  giant  within,  who  would  heave  a  blow 
at  it  with  all  the  force  of  a  mighty  principle,  it 
would  be  shattered  to  atoms  in  a  moment ;  and  the 
white  and  black  slaves  it  encloses  would  be  free  at 
once.  This  will  be  done  when  more  light  is  poured 
in  under  the  darkness  which  broods  over  it :  and 
the  time  cannot  now  be  far  off. 

Whenever  I  am  particularly  strongly  convinced 
of  anything,  in  opposition  to  the  opinion  of  any  or 
many  others,  I  entertain  a  suspicion  that  there  is 
more  evidence  on  the  other  side  than  I  see.  I  felt 
so,  even  on  this  subject  of  slavery,  which  has  been 
clear  to  English  eyes  for  so  long.  I  went  into  the 
slave  States  with  this  suspicion  in  my  mind  ;  and  I 
preserved  it  there  as  long  as  possible.  I  believe 
that  I  have  heard  every  argument  that  can  possibly 
be  adduced  in  vindication  or  palliation  of  slavery, 


116  RURAL    LABOUR. 

under  any  circumstances  now  existing ;  and  I  de- 
clare that,  of  all  displays  of  intellectual  perversion 
and  weakness  that  I  have  witnessed,  I  have  met 
with  none  so  humbling  and  so  melancholy  as  the 
advocacy  of  this  institution.  I  declare  that  I  know 
the  whole  of  its  theory ; — a  declaration  that  I  dare 
not  make  with  regard  to,  I  think,  any  other  subject 
whatever :  the  result  is  that  I  believe  there  is  no- 
thing rational  to  be  said  in  vindication  or  pal- 
liation of  the  protraction  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States. — Having  made  this  avowal,  it  will  not  be 
expected  that  I  should  fill  my  pages  with  a  wide 
superficies  of  argument  which  will  no  more  bear  a 
touch  than  pond-ice,  on  the  last  day  of  thaw.  As  I 
disposed  in  my  mind  the  opposite  arguments  of 
slave-holders,  I  found  that  they  ate  one  another  up, 
like  the  two  cats  that  Sheridan  told  of;  but  with- 
out leaving  so  much  as  an  inch  of  tail, 

One  mistake,  perhaps,  deserves  notice.  Rest- 
less slave-holders,  whose  uneasiness  has  urged  them 
to  struggle  in  their  toils,  and  find  themselves  unable 
to  get  out  but  by  the  loss  of  everything,  (but  honour 
and  conscience,)  pointed  out  to  me  the  laws  of  their 
States,  whereby  the  manumission  of  slaves  is  ren- 
dered difficult  or  impossible  to  the  master,  remain- 
ing on  the  spot,  and  prospectively  fatal  to  the  freed 
slave  ; — pointed  out  to  me  these  laws  as  rendering 
abolition  impossible.  To  say  nothing  of  the  feeble- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  117 

ness  of  the  barriers  which  human  regulations  pre- 
sent to  the  changes  urged  on  by  the  great  natural 
laws  of  society, — it  is  a  sufficient  answer  that 
these  State  laws  present  no  obstacle  to  general, 
though  they  do  to  particular,  emancipation.  They 
will  be  cancelled  or  neglected  by  the  same  will 
which  created  them,  when  the  occasion  expires  with 
which  they  sprang  up,  or  which  they  were  designed 
to  perpetuate.  The  institution  of  slavery  was  not 
formed  in  accordance  with  them :  they  arose  out  of 
the  institution.  They  are  an  offset;  and,  to  use 
the  words  of  one  of  their  advocates,  spoken  in  an- 
other connexion,  "  they  will  share  the  fate  of  offsets, 
and  perish  with  the  parent." 

It  is  obvious  that  all  laws  which  encourage  the 
departure  of  the  blacks  must  be  repealed,  when 
their  slavery  is  abolished.  The  one  thing  necessary, 
in  the  economical  view  of  the  case,  is  that  efficient 
measures  should  be  taken  to  prevent  an  unwise  dis- 
persion of  these  labourers :  measures,  I  mean, 
which  should  in  no  way  interfere  with  their  per- 
sonal liberty,  but  which  should  secure  to  them 
generally  greater  advantages  on  the  spot  than  they 
could  obtain  by  roaming.  It  has  been  distinctly 
shown  that  slavery  originated  from  the  difficulty  of 
concentrating  labour  in  the  neighbourhood  of  capi- 
talists. Where  the  people  are  few  in  proportion  to 
the  land,  they  are  apt  to  disperse  themselves  over  it ; 


118  RURAL    LABOUR. 

so  that  personal  coercion  has  been  supposed  neces- 
sary, in  the  first  instance,  to  secure  any  efficient 
cultivation  of  the  land  at  all.  Though  the  danger 
and  the  supposed  necessity  are  past,  in  all  but  the 
rawest  of  the  slave  States,  the  ancient  fact  should 
be  so  borne  in  mind  as  that  what  legislation  there 
is  should  tend  to  cause  a  concentration,  rather  than 
a  dispersion  of  the  labourers.  Any  such  tendency 
will  be  much  aided  by  the  strong  local  attachments 
for  which  negroes  are  remarkable.  It  is  not  only 
that  slaves  dread  all  change,  from  the  intellectual 
and  moral  dejection  to  which  they  are  reduced;  fear- 
ing even  the  removal  from  one  plantation  to  another, 
under  the  same  master,  from  the  constant  vague 
apprehension  of  something  dreadful.  It  is  not  only 
this,  (which,  however,  it  would  take  them  some 
time  to  outgrow,)  but  that  all  their  race  show  a  kind  of 
feline  attachment  to  places  to  which  they  are  accus- 
tomed, which  will  be  of  excellent  service  to  kind 
masters  when  the  day  of  emancipation  comes.  For 
the  rest,  efficient  arrangements  can  and  will  doubt- 
less be  made  to  prevent  their  wandering  further 
than  from  one  master  to  another.  The  abolition  of 
slavery  must  be  complete  and  immediate :  that  is 
to  say,  as  a  man  either  is  or  is  not  the  property  of 
another,  as  there  can  be  no  degrees  of  ownership  of 
a  human  being,  there  must  be  an  immediate  and 
complete  surrender  of  all  claim  to  negro  men,  wo- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  119 

men,  and  children  as  property :  but  there  may  and 
will  doubtless  be  arrangements  made  to  protect, 
guide,  and  teach  these  degraded  beings,  till  they 
have  learned  what  liberty  is,  and  how  to  use  it. 
Liberty  to  change  their  masters  must,  under  cer- 
tain reasonable  limitations,  be  allowed ;  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children  must  be  enforced.  The 
amount  of  wages  will  be  determined  by  natural 
laws,  and  cannot  be  foreseen,  further  than  that  they 
must  necessarily  be  very  ample  for  a  long  time  to 
come.  It  will  probably  be  found  desirable  to  fix 
the  price  of  the  government  lands,  with  a  view  to 
the  coloured  people,  at  that  amount  which  will  best 
obviate  squatting,  and  secure  the  respectable  set- 
tlement of  some  who  may  find  their  way  to  the 
west. 

Suggestions  of  this  kind  excite  laughter  among 
the  masters  of  slaves,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  think- 
ing that  they  know  best  what  negroes  are,  and  what 
they  are  capable  of.  I  have  reasons  for  estimating 
their  knowledge  differently,  and  for  believing  that 
none  know  so  little  of  the  true  character  and  capa- 
bilities of  negroes  as  their  owners.  They  might 
know  more,  but  for  the  pernicious  and  unnatural 
secrecy  about  some  of  the  most  important  facts 
connected  with  slave-holding,  which  is  induced 
partly  by  pride,  partly  by  fear,  partly  by  pecuniary 
interest.  If  they  would  do  themselves  and  their 


120  RURAL    LABOUR. 

slaves  the  justice  of  inquiring  with  precision  what 
is  the  state  of  Hayti ;  what  has  taken  place  in  the 
West  Indies ;  what  the  emancipation  really  was 
there ;  what  its  effects  actually  are,  they  would  ob- 
tain a  clearer  view  of  their  own  prospects.  So  they 
would,  if  they  would  communicate  freely  about  cer- 
tain facts  nearer  home :  not  only  conversing  as 
individuals,  but  removing  the  restrictions  upon  the 
press  by  which  they  lose  far  more  than  they  gain, 
both  in  security  and  fortune,— to  say  nothing  of 
intelligence.  Of  the  many  families  in  which  I  en- 
joyed intercourse,  there  was,  I  believe,  none  where 
I  was  not  told  of  some  one  slave  of  unusual  value, 
for  talent  or  goodness,  either  in  the  present  or  a 
former  generation.  A  collection  of  these  alone,  as 
they  stand  in  my  journal,  would  form  no  mean  tes- 
timony to  the  intellectual  and  moral  capabilities  of 
negroes  :  and  if  to  these  were  added  the  tales  which 
I  could  tell,  if  I  also  were  not  bound  under  the  laws 
of  mystery  of  which  I  have  been  complaining,  many 
hearts  would  beat  with  the  desire  to  restore  to  their 
human  rights  those  whose  fellow-sufferers  have 
given  ample  proof  of  their  worthiness  to  enjoy 
them.  The  consideration  which  binds  me  to  silence 
upon  a  rich  collection  of  facts,  full  of  moral  beauty 
and  promise,  is  regard  to  the  safety  of  many  whose 
heroic  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God  has  brought 
them  into  jeopardy  under  the  laws  of  slave- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  121 

holders,  and  the  allies  of  slave-holders.  Nor  would 
I,  by  any  careless  revelations,  throw  the  slightest 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  escape  of  any  one  of  the 
slaves  who  may  be  about  to  shirk  their  masters,  by 
methods  with  which  I  happen  to  be  acquainted. 

It  can,  however,  do  nothing  but  good  to  proclaim 
the  truth  that  slaves  do  run  away  in  much  greater 
numbers  than  is  supposed  by  any  but  those  who 
lose  them,  and  those  who  help  them.  By  which'  I 
mean  many  others  besides  the  abolitionists  par 
excellence.  Perhaps  I  might  confine  the  knowledge 
to  these  last ;  for  I  believe  no  means  exist  by  which 
the  yearly  amount  of  loss  of  this  kind  may  be  veri- 
fied and  published  in  the  south.  Everybody  who 
has  been  in  America  is  familiar  with  the  little  news- 
paper picture  of  a  black  man,  hieing  with  his  stick 
and  bundle,  which  is  prefixed  to  the  advertisements 
of  runaways.  Every  traveller  has  probably  been 
struck  with  the  number  of  these  which  meets  his 
eye ;  but  unless  he  has  more  private  means  of  in- 
formation, he  will  remain  unaware  of  the  streams  of 
fugitives  continually  passing  out  of  the  States.  There 
is  much  reserve  about  this  in  the  south,  from  pride; 
and  among  those  elsewhere  who  could  tell,  from  far 
other  considerations.  The  time  will  come  when  the 
whole  story,  in  its  wonder  and  beauty,  may  be  told 
by  some  who,  like  myself,  have  seen  more  of  the 
matter,  from  all  sides,  than  it  is  easy  for  a  native  to 

VOL.    II.  G 


122  RURAL    LABOUR. 

do.  Suffice  it,  that  the  loss  by  runaways,  and  the 
generally  useless  attempts  to  recover  them,  is  a 
heavy  item  in  the  accounts  of  the  cotton  and 
sugar  growers  of  the  south ;  and  one  which  is  sure 
to  become  heavier  till  there  shall  be  no  more  bond- 
age to  escape  from.  It  is  obvious  that  the  slaves 
who  run  away  are  among  the  best :  an  escape  being 
usually  the  achievement  of  a  project  early  formed ; 
concealed,  pertinaciously  adhered  to,  and  endeared 
by  much  toil  and  sacrifice  undergone  for  its  sake, 
for  a  long  course  of  years.  A  weak  mind  is  inca- 
pable of  such  a  series  of  acts,  with  a  unity  of  pur- 
pose. They  are  the  choicest  slaves  who  run  away. 
Of  the  cases  known  to  me,  the  greater  number  of 
the  men,  and  some  of  the  women,  have  acted 
throughout  upon  an  idea ;  (called  by  their  owners 
"  a  fancy," — a  very  different  thing ;)  while  some 
few  of  the  men  have  started  off  upon  some  sud- 
den infliction  of  cruelty;  and  many  women  on 
account  of  intolerable  outrage,  of  the  grossest  kind. 
Several  masters  told  me  of  leave  given  to  their 
•slaves  to  go  away,  and^of  the  slaves  refusing  to  avail 
themselves  of  it.  If  this  was  meant  to  tell  in  favour 
of  slavery,  it  failed  of  its  effect.  The  argument  was 
too  shallow  to  impose  upon  a  child.  Of  course, 
they  were  the  least  valuable  slaves  to  whom  this 
permission  was  given :  and  their  declining  to  depart 
proved  nothing  so  much  as  the  utter  degradation  of 


RURAL    LABOUR.  123 

human  beings  who  could  prefer  receiving  food  and 
shelter  from  the  hand  of  an  owner  to  the  possession 
of  themselves. 

Amidst  the  mass  of  materials  which  accumulated 
on  my  hands  during  the  process  of  learning  from  all 
parties  their  views  on  this  question,  I  hardly  know 
where  to  turn,  and  what  to  select,  that  will  most 
briefly  and  strongly  show  that  the  times  have  out- 
grown slavery.  This  is  the  point  at  which  every  fact 
and  argument  issue,  whatever  may  be  the  intention 
of  those  who  adduce  it.  The  most  striking,  per- 
haps, is  the  treatment  of  the  Abolitionists :  a  sub- 
ject to  be  adverted  to  hereafter.  The  insane  fury 
which  vents  itself  upon  the  few  who  act  upon  the 
principles  which  the  many  profess,  is  a  sign  of  the 
times  not  to  be  mistaken.  It  is  always  the  pre- 
cursor of  beneficial  change.  Society  in  America 
seems  to  be  already  passing  out  of  this  stage  into 
one  even  more  advanced.  The  cause  of  abolition 
is  spreading  so  rapidly  through  the  heart  of  the  na- 
tion ;  the  sound  part  of  the  body  politic  is  embrac- 
ing it  so  actively,  that  no  disinterested  observer  can 
fail  to  be  persuaded  that  even  the  question  of  time 
is  brought  within  narrow  limits.  The  elections  will, 
ere  long,  show  the  will  of  the  people  that  slavery  be 
abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Then  such 
truckling  politicians,  mercenary  traders,  cowardly 
clergy,  and  profligate  newspaper  corps,  as  are  new 

G  2 


124  RURAL    LABOUR. 

too  blind  to  see  the  coming  change,  will  have  to 
choose  their  part ;  whether  to  shrink  out  of  sight,  or 
to  boast  patriotically  of  the  righteous  revolution 
which  they  have  striven  to  retard,  even  by  the  ap- 
plication of  the  torture  to  both  the  bodies  and  the 
minds  of  their  more  clear-eyed  fellow-citizens. 

After  giving  one  or  two  testimonies  to  the  neces- 
sity of  a  speedy  change  of  system,  I  will  confine 
myself  to  relating  a  few  signs  of  the  times  which  I 
encountered  in  my  travels  through  the  south. 

In  1782,  Virginia  repealed  the  law  against  manu- 
mission ;  and  in  nine  years,  there  were  ten  thou- 
sand slaves  freed  in  that  State.  Alarmed  for  the 
institution,  her  legislature  re-enacted  the  law.  What 
has  been  the  consequence? — Let  us  take  the  testi- 
mony of  the  two  leading  newspapers  of  the  capital 
of  Virginia,  given  at  a  time  when  the  Virginian  le- 
gislature was  debating  the  subject  of  slavery;  and 
when  there  was,  for  once,  an  exposure  of  the  truth 
from  those  best  qualified  to  reveal  it.  In  1832, 
the  following  remarks  appeared  in  the  "  Richmond 
Enquirer." 

"  It  is  probable,  from  what  we  hear,  that  the 
committee  on  the  coloured  population  will  report 
some  plan  for  getting  rid  of  the  free  people  of  co- 
lour. But  is  this  all  that  can  be  done  ?  Are  we 
for  ever  to  suffer  the  greatest  evil  which  can 
scourge  our  land  not  only  to  remain,  but  to  in- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  125 

crease  in  its  dimensions  ?  '  We  may  shut  our  eyes 
and  avert  our  faces,  if  we  please,'  (writes  an  elo- 
quent South  Carolinian,  on  his  return  from  the 
north  a  few  weeks  ago,)  '  but  there  it  is,  the  dark 
and  growing  evil,  at  our  doors :  and  meet  the  ques- 
tion we  must  at  no  distant  day.  God  only  knows 
what  it  is  the  part  of  wise  men  to  do  on  that  mo- 
mentous and  appalling  subject.  Of  this  I  am  very 
sure,  that  the  difference — nothing  short  of  frightful 
— between  all  that  exists  on  one  side  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  all  on  the  other,  is  owing  to  that  cause 
alone.  The  disease  is  deep  seated;  it  is  at  the 
heart's  core;  it  is  consuming,  and  has  all  along 
been  consuming,  our  vitals ;  and  I  could  laugh,  if 
I  could  laugh  on  such  a  subject,  at  the  ignorance 
and  folly  of  the  politician  who  ascribes  that  to  an 
act  of  the  government,  which  is  the  inevitable  ef- 
fect of  the  eternal  laws  of  nature.  What  is  to  be 
done  ?  O  my  God,  I  don't  know ;  but  something 
must  be  done.' 

"  Yes,  something  must  be  done;  and  it  is  the  part 
of  no  honest  man  to  deny  it ;  of  no  free  press  to 
affect  to  conceal  it-  When  this  dark  population  is 
growing  upon  us ;  when  every  new  census  is  but 
gathering  its  appalling  numbers  upon  us;  when 
within  a  period  equal  to  that  in  which  this  federal 
constitution  has  been  in  existence,  those  numbers 


126  RURAL    LABOUR, 

will  increase  to  more  than  two  millions  within  Vir- 
ginia ;  when  our  sister  States  are  closing  their 
doors  upon  our  blacks  for  sale ;  and  when  our 
whites  are  moving  westwardly  in  greater  numbers 
than  we  like  to  hear  of;  when  this,  the  fairest  land 
on  all  this  continent,  for  soil  and  climate  and  situ- 
ation combined,  might  become  a  sort  of  garden 
spot  if  it  were  worked  by  the  hands  of  white  men 
alone,  can  we,  ought  we  to  sit  quietly  down,  fold 
our  arms,  and  say  to  each  other,  « well,  well,  this 
thing  will  not  come  to  the  worst  in  our  day  ?  We 
will  leave  it  to  our  children  and  our  grand-children 
and  great-grand-children  to  take  care  of  themselves, 
and  to  brave  the  storm.  Is  this  to  act  like  wise 
men?  Heaven  knows  we  are  no  fanatics,  We  de- 
test the  madness  which  actuated  the  Amis  des 
Noirs.  But  something  ought  to  be  done.  Means, 
sure  but  gradual,  systematic  but  discreet,  ought  to 
be  adopted  for  reducing  the  mass  of  evil  which  is 
pressing  upon  the  south,  and  will  still  more  press 
upon  her  the  longer  it  is  put  off.  We  ought  not  to 
shut  our  eyes,  nor  avert  our  faces.  And  though  we 
speak  almost  without  a  hope  that  the  committee  or 
the  legislature  will  do  anything,  at  the  present  ses- 
sion, to  meet  this  question,  yet  we  say  now,  in  the 
utmost  sincerity  of  our  hearts,  that  our  wisest  men 
cannot  give  too  much  of  their  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject, nor  can  they  give  it  too  soon." 


RURAL    LABOUR.  127 

The  other  paper,  the  «  Richmond  Whig,"  had 
the  same  time,  the  following : 

"  We  affirm  that  the  great  mass  of  Virginia  her- 
self triumphs  that  the  slavery  question  has  been 
agitated,  and  reckons  it  glorious  that  the  spirit  of 
her  sons  did  not  shrink  from  grappling  with  the 
monster.  We  affirm  that,  in  the  heaviest  slave  dis- 
tricts of  the  State,  thousands  have  hailed  the  dis- 
cussion with  delight,  and  contemplate  the  distant, 
but  ardently  desired  result,  as  the  supreme  good 
which  Providence  could  vouchsafe  to  their  country." 

This  is  doubtless  true.  One  of  the  signs  of  the 
times  which  struck  me  was  the  clandestine  encou- 
ragement received  by  the  abolitionists  of  the  north 
from  certain  timid  slave-holders  of  the  south,  who 
send  money  for  the  support  of  abolition  publica- 
tions, and  an  earnest  blessing.  They  write,  "  For 
God's  sake  go  on  !  We  cannot  take  your  publica- 
tions ;  we  dare  not  countenance  you ;  but  we  wish 
you  God  speed  !  You  are  our  only  hope."  There 
is  nothing  to  be  said  for  the  moral  courage  of  those 
who  feel  and  write  thus,  and  dare  not  express  their 
opinions  in  the  elections.  Much  excuse  may  be 
made  for  them  by  those  who  know  the  horrors 
which  await  the  expression  of  anti-slavery  senti- 
ments in  many  parts  of  the  south.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  abolitionists  are  not  to  be  blamed 
for  considering  all  slave-holders  under  the  same 


128  RURAL    LABOUR. 

point  of  view,  as  long  as  no  improved  state  of  opi- 
nion is  manifested  in  the  representation ;  the  na- 
tural mirror  of  the  minds  of  the  represented. 

Chief  Justice  Marshall,  a  Virginian,  a  slave- 
holder, and  a  member  of  the  Colonisation  Society, 
(though  regarding  this  society  as  being  merely  a 
palliative,  and  slavery  incurable  but  by  convulsion,) 
observed  to  a  friend  of  mine,  in  the  winter  of  1834, 
that  he  was  surprised  at  the  British  for  supposing 
that  they  could  abolish  slavery  in  their  colonies  by 
act  of  parliament.  His  friend  believed  it  would  be 
done.  The  Chief  Justice  could  not  think  that 
such  economical  institutions  could  be  done  away 
by  legislative  enactment.  His  friend  pleaded  the 
fact  that  the  members  of  the  British  House  of 
Commons  were  pledged,  in  great  numbers,  to  their 
constituents  on  the  question.  When  it  was  done, 
the  Chief  Justice  remarked  on  his  having  been 
mistaken ;  and  that  he  rejoiced  in  it.  He  now  saw 
hope  for  his  beloved  Virginia,  which  he  had  seen 
sinking  lower  and  lower  among  the  States.  The 
cause,  he  said,  was  that  work  is  disreputable  in  a 
country  where  a  degraded  class  is  held  to  enforced 
labour.*  He  had  seen  all  the  young,  the  flower 

*  Governor  M'Duffie's  message  to  the  legislature  of  South  Ca- 
rolina contains  the  proposition  that  freedom  can  be  preserved 
only  in  societies  where  either  work  is  disreputable,  or  there  is  an 
hereditary  aristocracy,  or  a  military  despotism.  He  prefers  the 
first,  as  being  the  most  republican. 


RURAL    LABOUR.  129 

of  the  State,  who  were  not  rich  enough  to  remain 
at  home  in  idleness,  betaking  themselves  to  other 
regions,  where  they  might  work  without  disgrace. 
Now  there  was  hope;  for  he  considered  that  in 
this  act  of  the  British,  the  decree  had  gone  forth 
against  American  slavery,  and  its  doom  was  sealed. 
There  was  but  one  sign  of  the  times  which  was 
amusing  to  me ;  and  that  was  the  tumult  of  opi- 
nions and  prophecies  offered  to  me  on  the  subject 
of  the  duration  of  slavery,  and  the  mode  in  which 
it  would  be  at  last  got  rid  of;  for  I  never  heard  of 
any  one  but  Governor  M'Duffie  who  supposed  that 
it  can  last  for  ever.  He  declared  last  year,  in  his 
message  to  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  that 
he  considers  slavery  as  the  corner-stone  of  their 
republican  liberties :  and  that,  if  he  were  dying, 
his  latest  prayer  should  be  that  his  children's  chil- 
dren should  live  nowhere  but  amidst  the  institu- 
tions of  slavery.  This  message  might  have  been 
taken  as  a  freak  of  eccentricity  merely,  if  it  had 
stood  alone.  But  a  committee  of  the  legislature, 
with  Governor  Hamilton  in  the  chair,  thought  pro- 
per to  endorse  every  sentiment  in  it.  This  con- 
verts it  into  an  indication  of  the  perversion  of 
mind  commonly  prevalent  in  a  class  when  its  dis- 
tinctive pecuniary  interest  is  in  imminent  peril.  I 
was  told,  a  few  months  prior  to  the  appearance  of 
this  singular  production,  that  though  Governor 

G  5 


130  RURAL    LABOUR. 

M'Duffie  was  a  great  ornament  to  the  State  of 
South  Carolina,  his  opinions  on  the  subject  of  sla- 
very were  tiltra,  and  that  he  was  left  pretty  nearly 
alone  in  them.  Within  a  year,  those  who  told  me 
so  went,  in  public,  all  lengths  with  Governor 
M'Duffie. 

I  believe  I  might  very  safely  and  honourably 
give  the  names  of  those  who  prophesied  to  me  in 
the  way  I  have  mentioned ;  for  they  rather  court 
publicity  for  their  opinions,  as  it  is  natural  and 
right  that  they  should,  as  long  as  they  are  sure  of 
them.  But  it  may  suffice  to  mention  that  they  are 
all  eminent  men,  whose  attention  has  been  strongly 
fixed,  for  a  length  of  years,  upon  the  institution  in 
question. 

A.  believes  that  slavery  is  a  necessary  and  de- 
sirable stage  in  civilisation :  not  on  the  score  of 
the  difficulty  of  cultivating  new  lands  without  it, 
but  on  the  ground  of  the  cultivation  of  the  negro 
mind  and  manners.  He  believes  the  Haytians  to 
have  deteriorated  since  they  became  free.  He  be- 
lieves the  white  population  destined  to  absorb  the 
black,  though  holding  that  the  two  races  will  not 
unite  after  the  third  mixture.  His  expectation 
is  that  the  black  and  mulatto  races  will  have  disap- 
peared in  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  He  has  no 
doubt  that  cotton  and  tobacco  may  be  well  and 
easily  grown  by  whites. 


RURAL    LABOUR.  131 

B.  is  confident  that  the  condition  of  slaves  is 
materially  improved,  yet  believes  that  they  will  die 
out,  and  that  there  will  be  no  earlier  catastrophe. 
He  looks  to  colonisation,  however,  as  a  means  of 
lessening  the  number.     This  same  gentleman  told 
me  of  a  recent  visit  he  had  paid  to  a  connexion  of 
his  own,  who  had  a  large  "  force,"  consisting  chiefly 
of  young  men  and  women :  not  one  child  had  been 
born  on  the  estate  for  three  years.    This  looks  very 
like  dying  out ;  but  does  it  go  to  confirm  the  mate- 
rially improved  condition  of  the  slaves  ? 

C.  allows  slavery  to  be  a  great  evil ;    and,  if  it 
were  now  non-existent,  would  not  ordain  it,  if  he 
could.     But  he  thinks  the  slaves  far  happier  than 
they  would  have  been  at  home  in  Africa,  and  con- 
siders that  the  system  works  perfectly.     He  pro- 
nounces the  slaves  "  the  most  contented,  happy, 
industrious  peasantry  in  the  world."     He  believes 
this  virtue  and  content  would  disappear  if  they  were 
taught  anything  whatever ;    and  that  if  they  were 
free,  they  would  be,  naturally  and  inevitably,  the 
most  vicious  and  wretched  population  ever  seen. 
His  expectation  is  that  they  will  increase  to  such 
a  degree  as  to  make  free  labour,  "  which   always 
supersedes  slave  labour, "  necessary  in  its  stead  ; 
that  the  coloured  race  will  wander  off  to  new  re- 
gions, and  be  ultimately  "  absorbed "  by  the  white. 
He  contemplates  no  other  than  this  natural  change, 


13'2  RURAL    LABOUR. 

which  he  thinks  cannot  take  place  in  less  than  a 
century  and  a  half.  A  year  later,  this  gentleman 
told  a  friend  of  mine  that  slavery  cannot  last  above 
twenty  years.  They  must  be  stringent  reasons 
which  have  induced  so  great  a  change  of  opinion  in 
twelve  months. 

D.  thinks  slavery  an  enormous  evil,  but  doubts 
whether  something  as  bad  would  notarise  in  its  stead. 
He  is  a  colonisationist,  and  desires  that  the  general 
government  should  purchase  the  slaves,  by  annual 
appropriations,  and  ship  them  off  to  Africa,  so  as 
to  clear  the  country  of  the  coloured  people  in  forty 
or  fifty  years.     If  this  is  not  done,  a  servile  war, 
the  most  horrible  that  the  world  has  seen,  is  in- 
evitable.     Yet  he  believes   that   the  institution, 
though  infinitely  bad  for  the  masters,  is  better  for 
the  slaves  than  those  of  any  country  in  Europe  for 
its  working    classes.      He  is  convinced   that  the 
tillage  of  all  the  crops  could  be  better  carried  on 
by  whites,  with  the  assistance  of  cattle  and  imple- 
ments, than  by  negroes. 

E.  writes,  (October  1835,)  "  Certain  it  is  that  if 
men  of  property  and  intelligence*  in  the  north  have 
that  legitimate  influence  which  that  class  has  here, 
nothing  will  come  of  this  abolition  excitement.  All 
we  have  to  say  to  them  is,  *  Hands  off!'      Our 
political  rights*  are  clear,  and  shall  not  be  invaded. 

*  The  dispute  between  the  abolitionists  and  their  adversaries  is 


RURAL   LABOUR.  133 

We  know  too  much  about  slavery  to  be  slaves  our- 
selves. But  I  repeat,  nothing  will  come  of  the 
present,  or  rather  recent  excitement,  for  already 
it  is  in  a  great  degree  passed.  And  the  time  is 
coming  when  a  struggle  between  pauperism  and 
property,  or,  if  you  choose,  between  labour  and 
capital  in  the  north,  stimulated  by  the  spirit  of 
Jacksonism,  will  occupy  the  people  of  that  quarter 
to  the  exclusion  of  our  affairs.  If  any  external  in- 
fluence is  ever  to  affect  the  institution  of  slavery 
in  the  south,  it  will  not  be  the  vulgar  and  ignorant 

always  made  to  turn  on  the  point  of  distinction  between  freedom 
of  discussion  and  political  interference.  With  the  views  now  en- 
tertained by  the  south,  she  can  never  be  satisfied  on  this  head. 
She  requires  nothing  short  of  a  dead  silence  upon  the  subject  of 
human  rights.  This  demand  is  made  by  her  state  governors  of 
the  state  governors  of  the  north.  It  will,  of  course,  never  be 
granted.  The  course  of  the  abolitionists  seems  to  themselves 
clear  enough  ;  and  they  act  accordingly.  They  labour  politically 
only  with  regard  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  over  which  Congress 
holds  exclusive  jurisdiction.  Their  other  endeavour  is  to  pro- 
mote the  discussion  of  the  moral  question  throughout  the  free 
States.  They  use  no  direct  means  to  this  end  in  the  slave  States  ; 
— in  the  first  place,  because  they  have  no  power  to  do  so  ;  and  in 
the  next,  because  the  requisite  movement  there  is  sure  to  follow 
upon  that  in  the  north.  It  is  wholly  untrue  that  they  insinuate 
their  publications  into  the  south.  Their  only  political  transgres- 
sion (and  who  will  call  it  a  moral  one?)  is,  helping  fugitive 
slaves.  The  line  between  free  discussion  and  political  interfe- 
rence has  never  yet  been  drawn  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  par- 
ties, and  uever  will  be. 


134  RURAL   LABOUR. 

fanaticism  of  the  northern  States,  intent  upon  a 
cheap  charity  which  is  to  be  done  at  our  expense; 
but  that  influence  will  be  found  in  English  litera- 
ture, and  the  gradual  operation  of  public  opinion. 
Slavery,  so  to  speak,  may  be  evaporated ; — it  can- 
not be  drawn  off.  If  it  were,  the  whole  land  would 
be  poisoned  and  desolated." 

The  best  reply  to  this  letter  will  be  found  in 
the  memorable  speech  of  Mr.  Preston,  one  of  the 
South  Carolina  senators,  delivered  in  Congress, 
last  spring.  It  may  be  mentioned,  by  the  way, 
that  the  writer  of  the  above  is  mistaken  in  sup- 
posing that  there  is  at  present,  or  impending,  any 
unhappy  struggle  in  the  north  between  pauperism 
and  property,  or  labour  and  capital.  It  is  all  pro- 
perty there,  and  no  pauperism,  (except  the  very 
little  that  is  superinduced ; )  and  labour  and  capital 
were,  perhaps,  never  before  seen  to  jog  on  so  lov- 
ingly together.  The  "cheap  charity"  he  speaks 
of  is  the  cheap  charity  of  the  first  Christians,  with 
the  addition  of  an  equal  ability  and  will  to  pay 
down  money  for  the  abolition  of  the  slaves,  for 
whose  sake  the  abolitionists  have  already  shown 
themselves  able  to  bear, — some,  hanging  ; — some, 
scourging,  and  tarring  and  feathering ;  some,  pri- 
vation of  the  means  of  living ;  and  all,  the  being 
incessantly  and  deeply  wounded  in  their  social  re- 
lations and  tenderest  affections.  Martyrdom  is 


RURAL    LABOUR.  135 

ever  accounted  a  "  cheap  devotion,"  or  «  cheap 
charity,"  to  God  or  man,  by  those  who  exact  it  of 
either  religious  or  philanthropic  principle. 

Mr.  Preston's  speech  describes  the  spread  of 
abolition  opinions  as  being  rapid  and  inevitable. 
He  proves  the  rapidity  by  citing  the  number  of 
recently -formed  abolition  societies  in  the  north; 
and  the  inevitableness,  by  exhibiting  the  course 
which  such  convictions  had  run  in  England  and 
France.  He  represents  the  case  as  desperate. 
He  advises, — not  yielding,  but  the  absolute  exclu- 
sion of  opinion  on  the  subject, — exclusion  from 
Congress,  and  exclusion  from  the  slave  States. 
This  is  well.  The  matter  may  be  considered  to 
be  given  up,  unless  this  is  merely  the  opinion  of  an 
individual.  The  proposal  is  about  as  hopeful  as 
it  would  be  to  draw  a  cordon  round  the  Capitol  to 
keep  out  the  four  winds ;  or  to  build  a  wall  up  to 
the  pole-star  to  exclude  the  sunshine. 

One  more  sample  of  opinions.  A  gentleman 
who  edits  a  highly-esteemed  southern  newspaper, 
expresses  himself  thus,  "  There  is  a  wild  fana- 
ticism at  work  to  effect  the  overthrow  of  the  sys- 
tem, although  in  its  fall  would  go  down  the  for- 
tunes of  the  south,  and  to  a  great  extent  those  of 
the  north  and  east ; — in  a  word,  the  whole  fabric  of 
our  Union,  in  one  awful  ruin.  What  then  ought 
to  be  done  ?  What  measures  ought  to  be  taken  to 


136  RURAL    LABOUR. 

secure  the  safety  of  our  property  and  our  lives? 
We  answer,  let  us  be  vigilant  and  watchful  to  the 
last  degree  over  all  the  movements  of  our  enemies 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  Let  us  declare  through 
the  public  journals  of  our  country,  that  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery  is  not,  and  shall  not  be  open  to  dis- 
cussion;—that  the  system  is  deep-rooted  amongst 
us,  and  must  remain  for  ever ; — that  the  very  mo- 
ment any  private  individual  attempts  to  lecture 
us  upon  its  evils  and  immorality,  and  the  necessity 
of  putting  measures  into  operation  to  secure  us 
from  them,  in  the  same  moment  his  tongue  shall 
be  cut  out  and  cast  upon  the  dung-hill.  We  are 
freemen,  sprung  from  a  noble  stock  of  freemen, 
able  to  boast  as  noble  a  line  of  ancestry  as  ever 
graced  this  earth ; — we  have  burning  in  our  bosoms 
the  spirit  of  freemen — live  in  an  age  of  enlightened 
freedom,  and  in  a  country  blessed  with  its  privi- 
leges— under  a  government  that  has  pledged  itself 
to  protect  us  in  the  enjoyment  of  our  peculiar 
domestic  institutions  in  peace,  and  undisturbed. 
We  hope  for  a  long  continuance  of  these  high  pri- 
vileges, and  have  now  to  love,  cherish,  and  defend, 
property,  liberty,  wives  and  children,  the  right  to 
manage  our  own  matters  in  our  own  way,  and,  what 
is  equally  dear  with  all  the  rest,  the  inestimable 
right  of  dying  upon  our  own  soil,  around  our  own 
firesides,  in  struggling  to  put  down  all  those  who 


RURAL    LABOUR.  137 

may  attempt  to  infringe,  attack,  or  violate  any  of 
these  sacred  and  inestimable  privileges." 

If  these  opinions  of  well-prepared  persons,  dis- 
persed through  the  slave  States,  and  entrusted 
with  the  public  advocacy  of  their  interests,  do  not 
betoken  that  slavery  is  tottering  to  its  fall,  there 
are  no  such  things  as  signs  of  the  times. 

The  prohibition  of  books  containing  anything 
against  slavery,  has  proceeded  to  a  great  length. 
Last  year,  Mrs.  Barbauld's  works  were  sent  back 
into  the  north  by  the  southern  booksellers,  because 
the  "  Evenings  at  Home"  contain  a  "  Dialogue  be- 
tween Master  and  Slave."  Miss  Sedgwick's  last 
novel,  "  The  Linwoods,"  was  treated  in  the  same 
way,  on  account  of  a  single  sentence  about  slavery. 
The  "  Tales  of  the  Woods  and  Fields,"  and  other 
English  books,  have  shared  the  same  fate.  I  had 
a  letter  from  a  southern  lady,  containing  some 
regrets  upon  the  necessity  of  such  an  exclusion  of 
literature,  but  urging  that  it  was  a  matter  of  prin- 
ciple to  guard  from  attacks  "  an  institution  ordained 
by  the  favour  of  God  for  the  happiness  of  man :" 
and  assuring  me  that  the  literary  resources  of 
South  Carolina  were  rapidly  improving. — So  they 
had  need ;  for  almost  all  the  books  already  in  ex- 
istence will  have  to  be  prohibited,  if  nothing  con- 
demnatory of  slavery  is  to  be  circulated.  This 
attempt  to  nullify  literature  was  followed  up  by  a 


138  KURAL    LABOUR. 

threat  to  refuse  permission  to  the  mails  to  pass 
through  South  Carolina:  an  arrangement  which 
would  afflict  its  inhahitants  more  than  it  could  in- 
jure any  one  else. 

The  object  of  all  this  is  to  keep  the  children  in 
the  dark  about  how  the  institution  is  regarded 
abroad.  This  was  evident  to  me  at  every  step : 
and  I  received  an  express  caution  not  to  commu- 
nicate my  disapprobation  of  slavery  to  the  children 
of  one  family,  who  could  not,  their  parents  declare, 
even  feel  the  force  of  my  objections.  One  of  them 
was  "  employed,  the  whole  afternoon,  in  dressing 
out  little  Nancy  for  an  evening  party ;  and  she 
sees  the  slaves  much  freer  than  herself."  Of 
course,  the  blindness  of  this  policy  will  be  its 
speedy  destruction.  It  is  found  that  the  effect  of 
public  opinion  on  the  subject  upon  young  men  who 
visit  the  northern  States,  is  tremendous,  when  they 
become  aware  of  it :  as  every  student  in  the  col- 
leges of  the  north  can  bear  witness.  I  know  of 
one,  an  heir  of  slaves,  who  declared,  on  reading 
Dr.  Channing's  "Slavery,"  that  if  it  could  be 
proved  that  negroes  are  more  than  a  link  between 
man  and  brute,  the  rest  follows  of  course,  and  he 
must  liberate  all  his.  Happily,  he  is  in  the  way 
of  evidence  that  negroes  are  actually  and  altogether 
human. 

The  students  of  Lane  Seminary,  near  Cincin- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  139 

nati,  of  which  Dr.  Beecher  is  the 'president,  became 
interested  in  the  subject,  three  or  four  years  ago, 
and  formed  themselves  into  an  Abolition  Society, 
debating  the  question,  and  taking  in  newspapers. 
This  was  prohibited  by  the  tutors,  but  persevered 
in  by  the  young  men,  who  conceived  that  this  was 
a  matter  with  which  the  professors  had  no  right  to 
meddle.  Banishment  was  decreed;  and  all  sub- 
mitted to  expulsion  but  fourteen.  Of  course,  each 
of  the  dispersed  young  men  became  the  nucleus  of 
an  Abolition  Society,  and  gained  influence  by  per- 
secution. It  was  necessary  for  them  to  provide 
means  to  finish  their  education.  One  of  them, 
Amos  Dresser,  itinerated,  (as  is  usual  in  the 
sparsely-peopled  west,)  travelling  in  a  gig,  and 
selling  Scott's  Bible,  to  raise  money  for  his  educa- 
tional purposes.  He  reached  Nashville,  in  Ten- 
nessee ;  and  there  fell  under  suspicion  of  abolition 
treason ;  his  baggage  being  searched,  and  a  whole 
abolition  newspaper,  and  a  part  of  another  being 
found  among  the  packing-stuff  of  his  stock  of  bibles. 
There  was  also  an  unsubstantiated  rumour  of  his 
having  been  seen  conversing  with  slaves.  He  was 
brought  to  trial  by  the  Committee  of  Vigilance; 
seven  elders  of  the  presbyterian  church  at  Nash- 
ville being  among  his  judges.  After  much  debate 
as  to  whether  he  should  be  hanged,  or  flogged  with 
more  or  fewer  lashes,  he  was  condemned  to  receive 


140  RURAL    LABOUR. 

twenty  lashes,  with  a  cow-hide,  in  the  market- 
place of  Nashville.  He  was  immediately  conducted 
there,  made  to  kneel  down  on  the  flint  pavement, 
and  punished  according  to  his  sentence  ;  the  mayor 
of  Nashville  presiding,  and  the  public  executioner 
being  the  agent.  He  was  warned  to  leave  the  city 
within  twenty-four  hours:  but  was  told,  by  some 
charitable  person  who  had  the  bravery  to  take  him 
in,  wash  his  stripes,  and  furnish  him  with  a  dis- 
guise, that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  remain  so  long. 
He  stole  away  immediately,  in  his  dreadful  con- 
dition, on  foot;  and  when  his  story  was  authen- 
ticated, had  heard  nothing  of  his  horse,  gig,  and 
bibles,  which  he  values  at  three  hundred  dollars. 
Let  no  one,  on  this,  tremble  for  republican  free- 
dom. Outrages  upon  it,  like  the  above,  are  but 
extremely  transient  signs  of  the  times.  They  no 
more  betoken  the  permanent  condition  of  the  re- 
public, than  the  shivering  of  one  hour  of  ague  ex- 
hibits the  usual  state  of  the  human  body. 

The  other  young  men  found  educational  and 
other  assistance  immediately;  and  a  set  of  noble 
institutions  has  grown  out  of  their  persecution. 
There  were  professors  ready  to  help  them ;  and  a 
gentleman  gave  them  a  farm  in  Ohio,  on  which  to 
begin  a  manual  labour  college,  called  the  Oberlin 
Institute.  It  is  on  a  most  liberal  plan ;  young 
women  who  wish  to  become  qualified  for  "  Christian 


RURAL    LABOUR.  141 

teaching"  being  admitted;  and  there  being  no 
prejudice  of  colour.  They  have  a  sprinkling  both 
of  Indians  and  of  negroes.  They  do  all  the  farm 
and  house  work,  and  as  much  study  besides  as  is 
good  for  them.  Some  of  the  young  women  are 
already  fair  Hebrew  and  Greek  scholars.  In  a 
little  while,  the  estate  was  so  crowded,  and  the 
new  applications  were  so  overpowering,  that  they 
were  glad  to  accept  the  gift  of  another  farm.  When 
I  left  the  country,  within  three  years  from  their 
commencement,  they  had  either  four  or  five  flou- 
rishing institutions  in  Ohio  and  Michigan,  while 
the  Lane  Seminary  drags  on  feebly  with  its  array 
of  tutors,  and  dearth  of  pupils.  A  fact  so  full  of 
vitality  as  this  will  overbear  a  hundred  less  cheer- 
ing signs  of  the  times.  A  very  safe  repose  may  be 
found  in  the  will  of  the  majority,  wherever  it  acts 
amidst  light  and  freedom. 

Just  before  I  reached  Mobile,  two  men  were 
burned  alive  there,  in  a  slow  fire,  in  the  open  air, 
in  the  presence  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  city  gene- 
rally. No  word  was  breathed  of  the  transaction  in 
the  newspapers  :  and  this  is  the  special  reason  why 
I  cite  it  as  a  sign  of  the  times ;  of  the  suppression 
of  fact  and  repression  of  opinion  which,  from  the 
impossibility  of  their  being  long  maintained,  are 
found  immediately  to  precede  the  changes  they  are 
meant  to  obviate.  Some  months  afterwards,  an 


142  RURAL    LABOUR. 

obscure  intimation  of  something  of  the  kind  having 
happened  appeared  in  a  northern  newspaper;  but 
a  dead  silence  was  at  the  time  preserved  upon  what 
was,  in  fact,  the  deed  of  a  multitude.  The  way 
that  I  came  to  know  it  was  this.  A  lady  of  Mobile 
was  opening  her  noble  and  true  heart  to  me  on  the 
horrors  and  vices  of  the  system  under  which  she  and 
her  family  were  suffering  in  mind,  body,  and  estate. 
In  speaking  of  her  duties  as  head  of  a  family,  she  had 
occasion  to  mention  the  trouble  caused  by  the  licen- 
tiousness of  the  whites,  among  the  negro  women.  It 
was  dreadful  to  hear  the  facts  which  had  occurred 
in  her  own  household ;  and  the  bare  imagination 
of  what  is  inflicted  on  the  negro  husbands  and 
fathers  was  almost  too  much  to  be  borne.  I  asked 
the  question,  "Does  it  never  enter  the  heads  of 
negro  husbands  and  fathers  to  retaliate  ?"  "  Yes, 
it  does."  "  What  follows  ?"  "  They  are  murdered, 
— burned  alive."  And  then  followed  the  story  of 
what  had  lately  happened.  A  little  girl,  and  her 
still  younger  brother,  one  day  failed  to  return  from 
school,  and  never  were  seen  again.  It  was  not  till 
after  all  search  had  been  relinquished,  that  the 
severed  head  of  the  little  girl  was  found  in  a  brook, 
on  the  borders  of  a  plantation.  Circumstances 
were  discovered  that  left  no  doubt  that  the  murders 
were  committed  to  conceal  violence  which  had  been 
offered  to  the  girl.  Soon  after,  two  young  ladies 


RURAL    LABOUR.  143 

of  the  city  rode  in  that  direction,  and  got  off  their 
horses  to  amuse  themselves.  They  were  seized 
upon  by  two  slaves  of  the  neighbouring  plantation  ; 
but  effected  their  escape  in  safety,  though  with 
great  difficulty.  Their  agitation  prevented  their 
concealing  the  fact ;  and  the  conclusion  was  imme- 
diately drawn  that  these  men  were  the  murderers 
of  the  children.  The  gentlemen  of  Mobile  turned 
out ;  seized  the  men ;  heaped  up  faggots  on  the 
margin  of  the  brook,  and  slowly  burned  them  to 
death.  No  prudish  excuses  for  the  suppression  of 
this  story  will  serve  any  purpose  with  those  who 
have  been  on  the  spot,  any  more  than  the  outcry 
about  "  amalgamation,"  raised  against  the  abo- 
litionists by  those  who  live  in  the  deepest  sinks 
of  a  licentiousness  of  which  the  foes  of  slavery  do 
not  dream.  No  deprecatory  plea  regarding  pro- 
priety or  decency  will  pass  for  anything  but  hypo- 
crisy with  those  who  know  what  the  laws  against 
the  press  are  in  the  south-west,  and  what  are  the 
morals  of  slavery  in  its  palmy  state.  I  charge  the 
silence  of  Mobile  about  this  murder  on  its  fears  ; 
as  confidently  as  I  charge  the  brutality  of  the  vic- 
tims upon  its  crimes. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  symptoms  of  an  un- 
manly and  anti-republican  fear  which  met  my  ob- 
servation in  these  regions,  it  was  long  before  I 
could  comprehend  the  extent  of  it;  especially  as  I 


144  RURAL    LABOUR. 

heard  daily  that  the  true  enthusiastic  love  of  free- 
dom could  exist  in  a  republic,  only  in  the  presence 
of  a  servile  class,  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
southerners  verily  believe  this ;  that  they  actually 
imagine  their  northern  brethren  living  in  an  ex- 
ceedingly humdrum  way,  for  fear  of  losing  their 
equality.  It  is  true  that  there  is  far  too  much 
subservience  to  opinion  in  the  northern  States : 
particularly  in  New  England.  There  is  there  a 
self-imposed  bondage  w?hich  must  be  outgrown. 
But  this  is  no  more  like  the  fear  which  prevails  in 
the  south  than  the  apprehensiveness  of  a  court- 
physician  is  like  the  terrors  of  Tiberius  Caesar. 

I  was  at  the  French  theatre  at  New  Orleans.  The 
party  with  whom  I  went  determined  to  stay  for  the 
after-piece.  The  first  scene  of  the  after-piece  was 
dumb-show ;  so  much  noise  was  made  by  one  single 
whistle  in  the  pit.  The  curtain  was  dropped,  and 
the  piece  re-commenced.  The  whistling  continued ; 
and,  at  one  movement,  the  whole  audience  rose  and 
went  home.  I  was  certain  that  there  was  something 
more  in  this  than  was  apparent  to  the  observation 
of  a  stranger.  I  resolved  to  find  it  out,  and  suc- 
ceeded. The  band  was  wanted  from  the  orchestra, 
to  serenade  a  United  States  senator  who  was  then 
in  the  city;  and  one  or  two  young  men  were  re- 
solved to  break  up  our  amusement  for  the  purpose 
of  releasing  the  band.  But  why  were  they  allowed 


RURAL    LABOUR.  145 

to  do  this  ?  Why  was  the  whole  audience  to  sub- 
mit to  the  pleasure  of  one  whistler  ?  Why,  in  New 
Orleans  it  is  thought  best  to  run  no  risk  of  any 
disturbance.  People  there  always  hie  home  di- 
rectly when  things  do  not  go  off  quite  quietly. 

It  is  the  same,  wherever  the  blacks  outnumber 
the  whites,  or  their  bondage  is  particularly  severe. 
At  Charleston,  when  a  fire  breaks  out,  the  gentle- 
men all  go  home  on  the  ringing  of  the  alarm-bell  ; 
the  ladies  rise  and  dress  themselves  and  their  chil- 
dren. It  may  be  the  signal  of  insurrection :  and 
the  fire  burns  on,  for  any  help  the  citizens  give,  till 
a  battalion  of  soldiers  marches  down  to  put  it  out. 

When  we  were  going  to  church,  at  Augusta, 
Georgia,  one  Sunday  afternoon,  there  was  smoke 
in  the  street,  and  a  cry  of  fire.  When  we  came 
out  of  church,  we  were  told  that  it  had  been  very 
trifling,  and  easily  extinguished.  The  next  day,  I 
heard  the  whole.  A  negro  girl  of  sixteen,  the 
property  of  a  lady  from  New  England,  had  set  her 
mistress's  house  on  fire  in  two  places,  by  very  in- 
artificially  lighting  heaps  of  combustible  stuff  piled 
against  the  partitions.  There  were  no  witnesses, 
and  all  that  was  known  came  from  her  own  lips. 
She  was  desperately  ignorant;  laws  having  been 
fully  enforced  to  prevent  the  negroes  of  Georgia 
being  instructed  in  any  way  whatever.  The  girl's 
account  was,  that  she  was  "  tired  of  living  there," 

VOL.  II.  H 


146  RURAL    LABOUR. 

and  had  therefore  intended  to  burn  the  house  in  the 
morning,  but  was  prevented  by  her  mistress  having 
locked  her  up  for  some  offence :  so  she  did  it  in 
the  afternoon.  She  was  totally  ignorant  of  the 
gravity  of  the  deed,  and  was  in  a  state  of  great 
horror  when  told  that  she  was  to  be  hanged  for  it. 
I  asked  whether  it  was  possible  that,  after  her 
being  prevented  by  law  from  being  taught,  she  was 
to  be  hanged  for  her  ignorance,  and  merely  on  her 
own  confession  ?  The  clergyman  with  whom  I  was 
conversing  sighed,  and  said  it  was  a  hard  case ;  but 
what  else  could  be  done,  considering  that  Augusta 
was  built  of  wood  ?  He  told  me  that  there  was 
great  excitement  among  the  negroes  in  Augusta ; 
and  that  many  had  been  saying  that  "  a  mean  white 
person"  (a  white  labourer)  would  not  have  been 
hanged ;  and  that  the  girl  could  not  help  it,  as  it 
must  have  been  severity  which  drove  her  to  it.  In 
both  these  sayings,  the  slaves  were  partly  wrong. 
A  white  would  have  been  hanged;  but  a  white 
would  have  known  that  she  was  committing  crime. 
It  did  not  appear  that  the  girl's  mistress  was  harsh. 
But  what  does  not  the  observation  convey  ?  I  have 
never  learned,  nor  ever  shall,  whether  the  hanging 
took  place  or  not.  The  newspapers  do  not  insert 
such  things. 

This  burning  would  be  a    fearful  art  for  the 
blacks  to  learn.    There  were  four  tremendous  fires 


RURAL    LABOUR.  147 

in  Charleston,  during  the  summer  of  1835 ;  and 
divers  residents  reported  to  the  north  that  these 
were  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  slaves. 

Wherever  I  went,  in  the  south,  in  whatever  town 
or  other  settlement  I  made  any  stay,  some  startling 
circumstance  connected  with  slavery  occurred, 
which  I  was  assured  was  unprecedented.  No 
such  thing  had  ever  occurred  before,  or  was  likely 
to  happen  again.  The  repetition  of  this  assurance 
became,  at  last,  quite  ludicrous. 

The  fear  of  which  I  have  spoken  as  prevalent, 
does  not  extend  to  the  discussion  of  the  question 
of  slavery  with  strangers.  My  opinions  of  slavery 
were  known,  through  the  press,  before  I  went 
abroad  :  the  hospitality  which  was  freely  extended 
to  me  was  offered  under  a  full  knowledge  of  my 
detestation  of  the  system.  This  was  a  great  ad- 
vantage, in  as  much  as  it  divested  me  entirely  of  the 
character  of  a  spy,  and  promoted  the  freest  discussion, 
wherever  I  went.  There  was  a  warm  sympathy 
between  myself  and  very  many,  whose  sufferings 
under  the  system  caused  me  continual  and  deep 
sorrow,  though  no  surprise.  Neither  was  I  sur- 
prised at  their  differing  from  me  as  widely  as  they 
do  about  the  necessity  of  immediate  action,  either 
by  resistance  or  flight,  while  often  agreeing,  nearly 
to  the  full,  in  my  estimate  of  the  evils  of  the  pre- 
sent state  of  things.  They  have  been  brought  up 

H2 


148  RURAL    LABOUR. 

in  the  system.  To  them,  the  moral  deformity  of 
the  whole  is  much  obscured  by  its  nearness; 
while  the  small  advantages,  and  slight  prettinesses 
which  it  is  very  easy  to  attach  to  it,  are  promi- 
nent, and  always  in  view.  These  circumstances 
prevented  my  being  surprised  at  the  candour  with 
which  they  not  only  discussed  the  question,  but 
showed  me  all  that  was  to  be  seen  of  the  econo- 
mical management  of  plantations ;  the  worst  as 
well  as  the  best.  Whatever  I  learned  of  the  sys- 
tem, by  express  showing,  it  must  be  remembered, 
was  from  the  hands  of  the  slave-holders  themselves. 
Whatever  I  learned,  that  lies  deepest  down  in  my 
heart,  of  the  moral  evils,  the  unspeakable  vices 
and  woes  of  slavery,  was  from  the  lips  of  those  who 
are  suffering  under  them  on  the  spot. 

It  was  there  that  I  heard  of  the  massacre  in 
Southampton  county,  which  has  been  little  spoken 
of  abroad.  It  happened  a  few  years  ago;  before 
the  abolition  movement  began ;  for  it  is  remarkable 
that  no  insurrections  have  taken  place  since  the 
friends  of  the  slave  have  been  busy  afar  off.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  eloquent  signs  of  the  times, — 
that,  whereas  rebellions  broke  out  as  often  as  once 
a  month  before,  there  have  been  none  since.  Of 
this  hereafter.  In  the  Southampton  massacre,  up- 
wards of  seventy  whites,  chiefly  women  and  chil- 
dren, were  butchered  bv  slaves  who  fancied  them- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  149 

selves  called,  like  the  Jews  of  old,  to  "  slay  and 
spare  not." 

While  they  were  in  full  career,  a  Virginian  gen- 
tleman, who  had  a  friend  from  the  north  staying 
with  him,  observed  upon  its  being  a  mistaken  opi- 
nion that  planters  were  afraid  of  their  slaves ;  and 
offered  the  example  of  his  own  household  as  a  re- 
futation. He  summoned  his  confidential  negro, 
the  head  of  the  house  establishment  of  slaves,  and 
bade  him  shut  the  door. 

"  You  hear,"  said  he,  "  that  the  negroes  have 
risen  in  Southampton." 

"  Yes,  massa." 

"  You  hear  that  they  have  killed  several  fami- 
lies, and  that  they  are  coming  this  way." 

"  Yes,  massa." 

"  You  know  that,  if  they  come  here,  I  shall 
have  to  depend  upon  you  all  to  protect  my  fa- 
mily.11 

The  slave  was  silent. 

"  If  I  give  you  arms,  you  will  protect  me  and 
my  family,  will  you  not  ?" 

"  No,  massa." 

"  Do  you  mean,  that  if  the  Southampton  negroes 
come  this  way,  you  will  join  them  ?" 

"  Yes,  massa." 

When  he  went  out  of  the  room,  his  master  wept 
without  restraint.  He  owned  that  all  his  hope,  all 


150  RURAL    LABOUR. 

his  confidence  was  gone.  Yet,  who  ever  deserved 
confidence  more  than  the  man  who  spoke  that  last 
"  No"  and  "  Yes  ?"  The  more  confidence  in  the 
man,  the  less  in  the  system.  This  is  the  philo- 
sophy of  the  story. 

I  have  mentioned  the  fact  that  no  insurrections 
have  for  a  long  time  taken  place.  In  some  parts 
of  the  slave  regions,  the  effect  has  been  to  relax 
the  laws  relating  to  slaves;  and  such  relaxation 
was  always  pointed  out  to  me  as  an  indication 
that  slavery  would  go  out  of  itself,  if  it  were  let 
alone.  In  other  parts,  new  and  very  severe  laws 
were  being  passed  against  the  slaves ;  and  this  was 
pointed  out  to  me  as  a  sign  that  the  condition  of 
the  negro  was  aggravated  by  the  interference  of 
his  friends ;  and  that  his  best  chance  lay  in  slavery 
being  let  alone.  Thus  the  opposite  facts  were  made 
to  yield  the  same  conclusion.  A  friend  of  mine, 
a  slave-holder,  observed  to  me,  that  both  the  re- 
laxation and  the  aggravation  of  restrictions  upon 
slaves  were  an  indication  of  the  tendency  of  public 
opinion  :  the  first  being  done  in  sympathy  with  it, 
the  other  in  fear  of  it. 

There  was  an  outcry,  very  vehement,  and  very 
general  among  the  friends  of  slavery,  in  both  north 
and  south,  against  the  cruelty  of  abolitionists  in 
becoming  the  occasion  of  the  laws  against  slaves 
being  made  more  severe.  In  my  opinion,  this 


RURAL    LABOUR.  151 

affords  no  argument  against  abolition,  even  if  the 
condition  of  the  slaves  of  to-day  were  aggravated 
by  the  stir  of  opinion.  The  negroes  of  the  next 
generation  are  not  to  be  doomed  to  slavery  for  fear 
of  somewhat  more  being  inflicted  on  their  parents : 
and,  severe  as  the  laws  already  are,  the  conse- 
quence of  straining  them  tighter  still  would  be 
that  they  would  burst.  But  the  fact  is,  that  so  far 
from  the  condition  of  the  slave  being  made  worse 
by  the  efforts  of  his  distant  friends,  it  has  been 
substantially  improved.  I  could  speak  confidently 
of  this  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  value  set 
upon  opinion  by  the  masters ;  but  I  know  it  also 
from  what  I  myself  saw;  and  from  the  lips  of 
many  slave-holders.  The  slaves  of  South  Caro- 
lina, Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Louisiana,  have  less 
liberty  of  communication  with  each  other;  they 
are  deprived  of  the  few  means  of  instruction  that 
they  had ;  they  are  shut  in  earlier  in  the  evening, 
and  precluded  from  supping  and  dancing  for  halt' 
the  night,  as  they  used  to  do ;  but  they  are  sub- 
stantially better  treated  ;  they  are  less  worked  by 
hard  masters ;  less  flogged ;  better  fed  and  clothed. 
The  eyes  of  the  world  are  now  upon  the  American 
slave  and  his  master :  the  kind  master  goes  on  as 
he  did  before :  the  hard  master  dares  not  be  so 
unkind  as  formerly.  He  hates  his  slave  more  than 
ever,  for  slavery  is  more  troublesome  than  ever; 


152  RURAL   LABOUR. 

but  he  is  kept  in  order,  by  the  opinion  of  the 
world  abroad  and  the  neighbours  around ;  and  he 
dares  not  vent  his  hatred  on  his  human  property, 
as  he  once  could.  A  slave-holder  declared  in 
Congress,  that  the  slaves  of  the  south  knew  that 
Dr.  Channing  had  written  a  book  on  their  behalf. 
No  doubt.  The  tidings  of  the  far-off  movement 
in  their  favour  come  to  them  on  every  wind  that 
blows,  calming  their  desperation,  breathing  hope 
into  their  souls ;  making  the  best  of  their  masters 
thoughtful  and  sad,  and  the  worst,  desperate  and 
cruel,  though  kept  within  bounds  by  fear. 

The  word  '  hatred'  is  not  too  strong  for  the  feel- 
ing of  a  large  proportion  of  slave-holders  towards 
particular  slaves ;  or,  as  they  would  call  them,  (the 
word  '  slave'  never  being  heard  in  the  south,)  their 
'  force,'  their  '  hands,'  their  '  negroes,'  their 
'  people.'  I  was  frequently  told  of  the  '  endearing 
relation'  subsisting  between  master  and  slaves ; 
but,  at  the  best,  it  appeared  to  me  the  same  *  en- 
dearing relation'  which  subsists  between  a  man 
and  his  horse,  between  a  lady  and  her  dog.  As 
long  as  the  slave  remains  ignorant,  docile,  and  con- 
tented, he  is  taken  good  care  of,  humoured,  and 
spoken  of  with  a  contemptuous,  compassionate  kind- 
ness. But,  from  the  moment  he  exhibits  the  attri- 
butes of  a  rational  being, — from  the  moment  his 
intellect  seems  likely  to  come  into  the  most  dis- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  153 

tant  competition  with  that  of  whites,  the  most 
deadly  hatred  springs  up ; — not  in  the  black,  but 
in  his  oppressors.  It  is  a  very  old  truth  that  we 
hate  those  whom  we  have  injured.  Never  was  it 
more  clear  than  in  this  case.  I  had,  from  time  to 
time  in  my  life,  witnessed  something  of  human  ma- 
lice; I  had  seen  some  of  the  worst  aspects  of  do- 
mestic service  in  England ;  of  village  scandal ;  of 
political  rivalship ;  and  other  circumstances  pro- 
vocative of  the  worst  passions;  but  pure,  unmi- 
tigated hatred,  the  expression  of  which  in  eye  and 
voice  makes  one's  blood  run  cold,  I  never  wit- 
nessed till  I  became  acquainted  with  the  blacks  of 
America,  their  friends  and  oppressors  :  the  blacks 
and  their  friends  the  objects;  their  oppressors  the 
far  more  unhappy  subjects.  It  so  happens  that  the 
most  remarkable  instances  of  this  that  I  met  with 
were  clergymen  and  ladies.  The  cold  livid  hatred 
which  deformed,  like  a  mask,  the  faces  of  a  few, 
while  deliberately  slandering,  now  the  coloured 
race,  and  now  the  abolitionists,  could  never  be 
forgotten  by  me,  as  a  fearful  revelation,  if  the  whole 
country  were  to  be  absolutely  christianized  to- 
morrow. Mr.  Madison  told  me,  that  if  he  could 
work  a  miracle,  he  knew  what  it  should  be.  He 
would  make  all  the  blacks  white ;  and  then  he 
could  do  away  with  slavery  in  twenty -four  hours. 
So  true  it  is  that  all  the  torturing  associations  of 

H  5 


154  RURAL   LABOUR. 

injury  have  become  so  connected  with  colour,  that 
an  institution  which  hurts  everybody  and  benefits 
none,  which  all  rational  people  who  understand  it 
dislike,  despise,  and  suffer  under,  can  with  difficulty 
be  abolished,  because  of  the  hatred  which  is  borne 
to  an  irremoveable  badge. 

This  hatred  is  a  sign  of  the  times ;  and  so  are 
the  alleged  causes  of  it ;  both  are  from  their  na- 
ture so  manifestly  temporary.  The  principal  cause 
alleged  is  the  impossibility  of  giving  people  of 
colour  any  idea  of  duty,  from  their  want  of  natural 
affection.  I  was  told  in  the  same  breath  of  their 
attachment  to  their  masters,  and  devotion  to  them 
in  sickness  ;  and  of  their  utter  want  of  all  affection 
to  their  parents  and  children,  husbands  and  wives. 
For  "  people  of  colour,"  read  "  slaves,"  and  the 
account  is  often  correct.  It  is  true  that  slaves  will 
often  leave  their  infants  to  perish,  rather  than  take 
any  trouble  about  them ;  that  they  will  utterly 
neglect  a  sick  parent  or  husband ;  while  they  will 
nurse  a  white  mistress  with  much  ostentation.  The 
reason  is  obvious.  Such  beings  are  degraded  so 
far  below  humanity  that  they  will  take  trouble,  for 
the  sake  of  praise  or  more  solid  reward,  after  they 
have  become  dead  to  all  but  grossly  selfish  induce- 
ments. Circumstances  will  fully  account  for  a 
great  number  of  cases  of  this  sort:  but  to  set 
against  these,  there  are  perhaps  yet  more  instances 


RURAL    LABOUR.  155 

of  domestic  devotion,  not  to  be  surpassed  in  the 
annals  of  humanity.  Of  these  I  know  more  than 
I  can  here  set  down ;  partly  from  their  number, 
and  partly  from  the  fear  of  exposing  to  injury  the 
individuals  alluded  to. 

A  friend  of  mine  was  well  acquainted  at  Wash- 
ington with  a  woman  who  had  been  a  slave ;  and 
who,  after  gaining  her  liberty,  worked  incessantly 
for  many  years,  denying  herself  all  but  absolute 
necessaries,  in  order  to  redeem  her  husband  and 
children.  She  was  a  sick-nurse,  when  my  friend 
knew  her ;  and,  by  her  merits,  obtained  good  pay. 
She  had  first  bought  herself;  having  earned,  by 
extra  toil,  three  or  four  hundred  dollars.  She 
then  earned  the  same  sum,  and  redeemed  hei 
husband ;  and  had  bought  three,  out  of  her  five, 
children  when  my  friend  last  saw  her.  She  made 
no  boast  of  her  industry  and  self-denial.  Her 
story  was  extracted  from  her  by  questions ;  and  she 
obviously  felt  that  she  was  doing  what  was  merely 
unavoidable.  It  is  impossible  to  help  instituting  a 
comparison  between  this  woman  and  the  gentlemen 
who,  by  their  own  licentiousness,  increase  the  num- 
ber of  slave  children  whom  they  sell  in  the  market. 
My  friend  formerly  carried  an  annual  present  from 
a  distant  part  of  the  country  to  this  poor  woman  : 
but  it  is  not  known  what  has  become  of  her,  and 
whether  she  died  before  she  had  completed  her  ob- 
ject, of  freeing  all  her  family. 


156  RURAL    LABOUR. 

There  is  a  woman  now  living  with  a  lady  in 
Boston,  requiring  high  wages,  which  her  superior 
services,  as  well  as  her  story,  enable  her  to 
command.  This  woman  was  a  slave,  and  was 
married  to  a  slave,  by  whom  she  had  two  chil- 
dren. The  husband  and  wife  were  much  attached. 
One  day,  her  husband  was  suddenly  sold  away  to 
a  distance ;  and  her  master,  whose  object  was  to 
increase  his  stock  as  fast  as  possible,  immediately 
required  her  to  take  another  husband.  She  stoutly 
refused.  Her  master  thought  her  so  far  worthy 
of  being  humoured,  that  he  gave  her  his  son, — 
forced  him  upon  her,  as  her  present  feelings  show. 
She  had  two  more  children,  of  much  lighter  com- 
plexion than  the  former.  When  the  son  left  the 
estate,  her  master  tried  again  to  force  a  negro  hus- 
band upon  her.  In  desperation,  she  fled,  carrying  one 
of  her  first  children  with  her.  She  is  now  working  to 
redeem  the  other,  a  girl ;  and  she  has  not  given  up 
all  hope  of  recovering  her  husband.  She  was  asked 
whether  she  thought  of  doing  anything  for  her  two 
mulatto  children.  She  replied  that,  to  be  sure, 
they  were  her  children  ;  but  that  she  did  not  think 
she  ever  could  tell  her  husband  that  she  had  had 
those  two  children.  If  this  be  not  chastity,  what 
is  ?  Where  are  all  the  fairest  natural  affections,  if 
not  in  these  women  ? 

At  a  very  disorderly  hotel  in  South  Carolina,  we 
were  waited  upon  by  a  beautiful  mulatto  woman 


RURAL    LABOUR.  157 

and  her  child,  a  pretty  girl  of  about  eight.  The 
woman  entreated  that  we  would  buy  her  child. 
On  her  being  questioned,  it  appeared  that  it  was 
"  a  bad  place"  in  which  she  was :  that  she  had  got 
her  two  older  children  sold  away,  to  a  better  place ; 
and  now,  her  only  wish  was  for  this  child  to  be 
saved.  On  being  asked  whether  she  really  desired 
to  be  parted  from  her  only  remaining  child,  so  as 
never  to  see  her  again,  she  replied  that  "  it  would 
be  hard  to  part,"  but  for  the  child's  sake  she  did 
wish  that  we  would  buy  her. 

A  kind-hearted  gentleman  in  the  south,  finding 
that  the  laws  of  his  State  precluded  his  teaching 
his  legacy  of  slaves  according  to  the  usual  methods 
of  education,  bethought  himself,  at  length,  of  the 
moral  training  of  task-work.  It  succeeded  ad- 
mirably. His  negroes  soon  began  to  work  as  slaves 
are  never,  under  any  other  arrangement,  seen  to 
work.  Their  day's  task  was  finished  by  eleven 
o'clock.  Next,  they  began  to  care  for  one  another : 
the  strong  began  to  help  the  weak: — first,  hus- 
bands helped  their  wives  ;  then  parents  helped  their 
children ;  and,  at  length,  the  young  began  to  help 
the  old.  Here  was  seen  the  awakening  of  natural 
affections  which  had  lain  in  a  dark  sleep. 

Of  the  few  methods  of  education  which  have 
been  tried,  none  have  succeeded  so  well  as  this 
task- work.  As  its  general  adoption  might  have 
the  effect  of  enabling  slavery  to  subsist  longer  than 


158  RURAL    LABOUR. 

it  otherwise  could,  perhaps  it  is  well  that  it  can 
be  employed  only  to  a  very  small  extent.  Much 
of  the  work  on  the  plantations  cannot  be  divided 
into  tasks.  Where  it  can,  it  is  wise  in  the  masters 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  means  of  enlisting  the 
will  of  the  slave  in  behalf  of  his  work. 

No  other  mode  of  teaching  serves  this  purpose 
in  any  degree.  The  shutting  up  of  the  schools, 
when  I  was  in  the  south,  struck  me  as  a  sign  of 
the  times, — a  favourable  sign,  in  as  far  as  it  showed 
the  crisis  to  be  near ;  and  it  gave  me  little  regret 
on  account  of  the  slave  children.  Reading  and 
writing  even  (which  are  never  allowed)  would  be 
of  no  use  to  beings  without  minds, — as  slaves  are 
prior  to  experience  of  life ;  and  religious  teaching  is 
worse  than  useless  to  beings  who,  having  no  rights, 
can  have  no  duties.  Their  whole  notion  of  reli- 
gion is  of  power  and  show,  as  regards  God ;  of  sub- 
jection to  a  new  sort  of  reward  and  punishment, 
as  regards  themselves ;  and  invisible  reward  and 
punishment  have  no  effect  on  them.  A  negro,  con- 
ducting worship,  was  heard  to  pray  thus  ;  and  broad 
as  the  expressions  are,  they  are  better  than  an  ab- 
j  ect,  unintelligent  adoption  of  the  devoti  onal  language 
of  whites.  "  Come  down,  O  Lord,  come  down, — 
on  your  great  white  horse,  a  kickin'  and  snortinV 
An  ordinary  negro's  highest  idea  of  majesty  is 
of  riding  a  prancing  white  horse.  As  for  their 
own  concern  in  religion,  I  know  of  a  "  force" 


RURAL    LABOUR.  159 

where  a  preacher  had  just  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion. The  slaves  had  given  up  dancing,  and  sang 
nothing  but  psalms  :  they  exhibited  the  most  ludi- 
crous spiritual  pride,  and  discharged  their  business 
more  lazily  than  ever,  taunting  their  mistress  with, 
"  You  no  holy.  We  be  holy.  You  no  in  state  o' 
salvation."  Such  was  the  effect  upon  the  majo- 
rity. Here  is  the  effect  upon  a  stronger  head. 

"  Harry,"  said  his  master,  "  you  do  as  badly  as 
ever.  You  steal  and  tell  lies.  Don't  you  know 
you  will  be  punished  in  hell  ?  " 

"  Ah,  massa,  I  been  thinking  'bout  that  I  been 
thinking  when  Harry's  head  is  in  the  ground, 
there'll  be  no  more  Harry,  — no  more  Harry." 

"  But  the  clergyman,  and  other  people  who 
know  better-  than  you,  tell  you  that  if  you  steal 
you  will  go  to  hell,  and  be  punished  there." 

"  Been  thinking  'bout  that  too.  Gentlemen  be 
wise,  and  so  they  tell  us  'bout  being  punished, 
that  we  may  not  steal  their  things  here:  and  then 
we  go  and  find  out  afterwards  how  it  is." 

Such  is  the  effect  of  religion  upon  those  who 
have  no  rights,  and  therefore  no  duties.  Great 
efforts  are  being  now  made  by  the  clergy  of  four 
denominations*  to  obtain  converts  in  the  south. 
The  fact,  pointed  out  to  me  by  Mr.  Madison,  that 
the  "  chivalrous"  south  is  growing  strict,  while  the 

*  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Methodists  and  Baptists. 


160  RURAL    LABOUR. 

puritanic  north  is  growing  genial,  is  a  very  remark- 
able sign  of  the  times,  as  it  regards  slavery.  All 
sanctions  of  the  institution  being  now  wanted,  re- 
ligious sanctions  are  invoked  among  others.  The 
scene  has  been  acted  before,  often  enough  to  make 
the  catastrophe  clearly  discernible.  There  are  no 
true  religious  sanctions  of  slavery.  There  will  be 
no  lack  of  Harrys  to  detect  the  forgeries  put  forth 
as  such :  and,  under  the  most  corrupt  present- 
ments of  religion,  there  lives  something  of  its  ge- 
nuine spirit, — enough  to  expand,  sooner  or  later, 
and  explode  the  institution  with  which  it  can  never 
combine.  Though  I  found  that  the  divines  of  the 
four  denominations  were  teaching  a  compromising 
Christianity,  to  propitiate  the  masters,  and  gross 
superstitions  to  beguile  the  slaves,— vying  with 
each  other  in  the  latter  respect,  that  they  might 
outstrip  one  another  in  the  number  of  their  con- 
verts,— I  rejoiced  in  their  work.  Anything  is  bet- 
ter for  the  slaves  than  apathetic  subjection ;  and, 
under  all  this  falsification,  enough  Christian  truth 
has  already  come  in  to  blow  slavery  to  atoms. 

The  testimony  of  slave-holders  was  most  ex- 
plicit as  to  no  moral  improvement  having  taken 
place,  in  consequence  of  the  introduction  of  reli- 
gion. There  was  less  singing  and  dancing ;  but  as 
much  lying,  drinking,  and  stealing  as  ever :  less  do- 
cility, and  a  vanity  even  transcending  the  common 
vanity  of  slaves, — to  whom  the  opinion  of  others  is 


RURAL    LABOUR.  161 

all  which  they  have  to  gain  or  lose.  The  houses 
are  as  dirty  as  ever,  (and  I  never  saw  a  clean  room 
orhed  but  once,  within  the  boundaries  of  the  slave 
States ;)  .the  family  are  still  contented  with  their 
"  clean  linen,  as  long  as  it  does  not  smell  badly." 
A  new  set  of  images  has  been  presented  to  the 
slaves;  but  there  still  remains  but  one  idea,  by 
and  for  which  any  of  them  live ;  the  idea  of  freedom. 

Not  for  this,  however,  is  the  present  zeal  for 
religion  a  less  remarkable  sign  of  the  times. 

Another  is,  a  proposition  lately  made  in  Charles- 
ton to  remove  the  slave-market  further  from  pub- 
lic observation.  This  acknowledgment,  in  such  a 
place,  that  there  is  something  distasteful,  or  other- 
wise uncomfortable,  in  the  sale  of  human  beings, 
is  portentous.  I  was  in  that  Charleston  slave- 
market  ;  and  saw  the  sale  of  a  woman  with  her 
children.  A  person  present  voluntarily  assured 
me  that  there  was  nothing  whatever  painful  in  the 
sight.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  rest  of  Charles- 
ton thinks  differently. 

I  was  witness  to  the  occasional  discussion  of 
the  question  whether  Congress  has  power  to  pro- 
hibit the  internal  slave  trade ;  and  found  that  some 
very  eminent  men  had  no  doubt  whatever  of  such 
power  being  possessed  by  Congress,  through  the 
clause  which  authorizes  it  to  "  regulate  com- 
merce among  the  several  States."  Among  those 


162  RURAL    LABOUR. 

who  held  this  opinion  were  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr. 
Webster. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  suffrage  in  the  north, 
compared  with  the  south,  affords  an  indication  of 
some  speedy  change  of  circumstances.  Three 
fifths  of  the  slave  population  is  represented ;  but 
this  basis  of  representation  is  so  narrow  in  contrast 
with  that  of  the  populous  States  where  every  man 
has  the  suffrage,  that  the  south  must  decrease  and 
the  north  increase,  in  a  way  which  cannot  long  be 
borne  by  the  former.  The  south  has  no  remedy 
but  in  abolishing  the  institution  by  which  her  pros- 
perity is  injured,  and  her  population  comparatively 
confined.  She  sees  how  it  is  in  the  two  conti- 
guous States  of  Missouri  and  Illinois:  that  new 
settlers  examine  Illinois,  pass  on  into  Missouri, 
where  land  is  much  cheaper,  and  return  to  Illinois 
to  settle,  because  there  is  no  slavery  there :  so  that 
the  population  is  advancing  incalculably  faster  in 
Illinois  than  in  Missouri.  Missouri  will  soon  and 
easily  find  her  remedy,  in  abolishing  slavery ;  when 
the  whites  will  rush  in,  as  they  now  do  into  the 
neighbouring  States.  In  the  south,  the  case  is 
more  difficult.  It  will  be  long  before  white  labour  be- 
comes so  reputable  there  as  elsewhere  ;  and  the  pre- 
sent white  residents  cannot  endure  the  idea  of  the 
suffrage  being  freely  given,  within  any  assignable 
time,  to  those  who  are  now  their  slaves,  or  to  their 


RURAL    LABOUR.  163 

dusky  descendants.  Yet  this  is  what  must  be 
done,  sooner  or  later,  with  more  or  fewer  precau- 
tions, if  the  south  means  to  hold  an  important  rank 
in  Congress.  It  is  in  contemplation  of  this  diffi- 
culty that  the  loudest  threats  are  heard  of  seces- 
sion from  the  Union ;  a  movement  which,  as  I 
have  before  said,  would  be  immediately  prevented, 
or  signally  punished.  The  abolition  of  slavery  is 
the  only  resource. 

Upon  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  signs  of 
the  times  relating  to  slavery,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  say  much.  Those  which  I  have  men- 
tioned are  surely  enough  to  show,  as  plainly  as 
if  a  ghost  had  come  from  the  grave  to  tell  us,  that 
the  time  is  at  hand  for  the  destruction  of  this  mon- 
strous anomaly.  What  the  issue  of  the  coming 
change  will  be  is,  to  my  mind,  decided  by  a  con- 
sideration on  which  almost  every  man  is  vociferat- 
ing his  opinion, — the  character  of  the  abolitionists. 

It  is  obvious  enough  why  this  point  is  discussed  so 
widely  and  so  constantly,  that  I  think  I  may  say  I 
heard  more  upon  it,  while  I  was  in  America,  than 
upon  all  other  American  matters  together.  It  is 
clearly  convenient  to  throw  so  weighty  a  question 
as  that  of  abolition  back  upon  the  aggregate  cha- 
racters of  those  who  propose  it;  convenient  to 
slave-holders,  convenient  to  those  in  the  north 
whose  sympathies  are  with  slave-holders,  or  who 


164  RURAL    LABOUR. 

dread  change,  or  who  want  an  excuse  to  them- 
selves for  not  acting  upon  the  principles  which  all 
profess.  The  character  of  the  abolitionists  of  the 
United  States  has  been  the  object  of  attack  for 
some  years, — of  daily  and  hourly  attack ;  and,  as 
far  as  I  know,  there  has  been  no  defence;  for 
the  plain  reason  that  this  is  a  question  on  which 
there  can  be  no  middle  party.  All  who  are  not 
with  the  abolitionists  are  against  them  ;  for  silence 
and  inaction  are  public  acquiescence  in  things  as 
they  are.  The  case  is,  then,  that  everybody  is 
against  them  but  their  own  body,  whose  testimony 
would,  of  course,  go  for  nothing,  if  it  were  offer- 
ed; which  it  never  is. — I  know  many  of  them  well; 
as  every  stranger  in  the  country  ought  to  take  pains 
to  do.  I  first  heard  everything  that  could  be 
said  against  them :  and  afterwards  became  well  ac- 
quainted with  a  great  number  of  them. 

I  think  the  abolitionists  of  the  United  States 
the  most  reasonable  set  of  people  that  I  ever 
knew  to  be  united  together  for  one  object. 
Among  them  may  be  enjoyed  the  high  and  rare 
luxury  of  having  a  reason  rendered  for  every  act 
performed,  and  every  opinion  maintained.  The 
treatment  they  have  met  with  compels  them  to 
be  more  thoroughly  informed,  and  more  com- 
pletely assured  on  every  point  on  which  they 
commit  themselves,  than  is  commonly  considered 


RURAL    LABOUR.  165 

necessary  on  the  right  side  of  a  question,  where 
there  is  the  strength  of  a  mighty  principle  to 
repose  upon.  The  commonest  charge  against  them 
is  that  they  are  fanatical.  I  think  them,  gene- 
rally speaking,  the  most  clear-headed,  right-mind- 
ed class  I  ever  had  intercourse  with.  Their  ac- 
curacy about  dates,  numbers,  and  all  such  mat- 
ters of  fact,  is  as  remarkable  as  their  clear  per- 
ception of  the  principles  on  which  they  proceed. 
They  are,  however,  remarkably  deficient  in  poli- 
cy,— in  party  address.  They  are  artless  to  a  fault; 
and  probably,  no  party,  religious,  political,  or  be- 
nevolent, in  their  country,  ever  was  formed  and 
conducted  with  so  little  dexterity,  shrewdness,  and 
concert.  Noble  and  imperishable  as  their  object 
is,  it  would  probably,  from  this  cause,  have  slipped 
through  their  fingers  for  the  present,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  some  other  qualities  common  among 
them.  It  is  needless  to  say  much  of  their  heroism ; 
of  the  strength  of  soul  with  which  they  await 
and  endure  the  inflictions  with  which  they  are  vi- 
sited, day  by  day.  Their  position  indicates  all 
this.  Animating  as  it  is  to  witness,  it  is  less 
touching  than  the  qualities  to  which  they  owe  the 
success  which  would  otherwise  have  been  forfeited 
through  their  want  of  address  and  party  organisa- 
tion. A  spirit  of  meekness,  of  mutual  forbear- 


166  RURAL    LABOUR. 

ance,  of  mutual  reverence,  runs  through  the 
whole  body ;  and  by  this  are  selfish  considerations 
put  aside,  differences  composed,  and  distrusts  ob- 
viated, to  a  degree  which  I  never  hoped  to  witness 
among  a  society  as  various  as  the  sects,  parties  and 
opinions  which  are  the  elements  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. With  the  gaiety  of  heart  belonging  to 
those  who  have  cast  aside  every  weight ;  with  the 
strength  of  soul  proper  to  those  who  walk  by  faith  ; 
with  the  child-like  unconsciousness  of  the  inno- 
cent ;  living  from  hour  to  hour  in  the  light  of  that 
greatest  of  all  purposes,— to  achieve  a  distant  ob- 
ject by  the  fulfilment  of  the  nearest  duty, — and 
therefore  rooting  out  from  among  themselves  all 
aristocratic  tendencies  and  usages,  rarely  speaking 
of  their  own  sufferings  and  sacrifices,  but  in  ho- 
nour preferring  one  another,  how  can  they  fail  to 
win  over  the  heart  of  society, — that  great  heart, 
sympathising  with  all  that  is  lofty  and  true?* 

*  It  may,  at  the  first  glance,  appear  improbable  that  such  a  cha- 
racter as  this  should  belong  to  any  collection  of  individuals.  But 
let  it  be  remembered  what  the  object  is  ;  an  object  which  selects 
for  its  first  supporters  the  choicest  spirics  of  society.  These 
choice  spirits,  again,  are  disciplined  by  what  they  have  to  undergo 
for  their  object,  till  they  come  out  such  as  I  have  described  them. 
Their's  is  not  a  common  charitable  institution,  whose  committees 
meet,  and  do  creditable  business,  and  depart  homewards  in  peace. 
They  are  the  confessors  of  the  martyr-age  of  America.  As  a  mat- 


RURAL    LABOUR.  167 

As  was  said  to  me,  "  the  Searcher  of  hearts  is 
passing  through  the  land,  and  every  one  must 
come  forth  to  the  ordeal."  This  Searcher  of 
hearts  comes  now  in  the  form  of  the  mighty  prin- 
ciple of  human  freedom.  If  a  glance  is  cast  over 
the  assemblage  called  to  the  ordeal,  how  mean  and 
trivial  are  the  vociferations  in  defence  of  property, 
the  threats  of  revenge  for  light,  the  boast  of  phy- 
sical force,  the  appeal  to  the  compromises  which 
constitute  the  defects  of  human  law  !  How  low  and 
how  sad  appear  the  mercenary  interests,  the  social 
fears,  the  clerical  blindness  or  cowardice,  the  mor- 
bid fastidiousness  of  those  who,  professing  the 
same  principles  with  the  abolitionists,  are  bent 
upon  keeping  those  principles  for  ever  an  abstrac- 
tion !  How  inspiring  is  it  to  see  that  the  community 
is,  notwithstanding  all  this,  sound  at  the  core,  and 
that  the  soundness  is  spreading  so  fast  that  the  health 
of  the  whole  community  may  be  ultimately  looked 
for  !  When  a  glance  shows  us  all  this,  and  that  the 
abolitionists  are  no  more  elated  by  their  present 
success  than  they  were  depressed  by  their  almost 
hopeless  degradation,  we  may  fairly  consider  the 
character  of  the  abolitionists  a  decisive  sign  of  the 

ter  of  course,  their  character  will  be  less  distinctive  as  their  num- 
bers increase.  Many  are  coming  in,  and  more  will  come  in,  who 
had  not  strength,  or  light,  or  warmth  enough  to  join  them  in  tlie 
days  of  their  insignificance. 


168  RURAL    LABOUR. 

-times,— a  peculiarly  distinct  prophecy  that  the  co- 
loured race  will  soon  pass  from  under  the  yoke. 
The  Searcher  of  hearts  brings  prophecies  in  his 
hand,  which  those  who  will  may  read.* 

I  cannot  give  much  space  to  the  theories  which 
are  current  as  to  what  the  issue  will  be  if  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery  should  not  take  place.  To  me  it 
seems  pretty  clear,  when  the  great  amount  of  the 
mulatto  population  is  considered.  Within  an  al- 
most calculable  time,  the  population  would  be 
wholly  mulatto ;  and  the  southern  States  would  be 
in  a  condition  so  far  inferior  to  the  northern,  that 
they  would  probably  separate,  and  live  under  a 
different  form  of  government.  A  military  despo- 
tism might  probably  be  established  when  the  mix- 
ture of  colours  had  become  inconvenient,  without 
being  universal:  slavery  would  afterwards  die  out, 

*  While  I  write,  confirmation  comes  in  the  shape  of  Governor 
M'Duffie's  message  to  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  in  which 
he  speaks  of  the  vast  and  accelerated  spread  of  abolition  princi- 
ples ;  of  the  probability  that  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
will  be  soon  abolished  ;  and  of  the  pressing  occasion  that  thence 
arises  for  South  Carolina  to  resolve  what  she  shall  do,  rather  than 
part  with  her  domestic  institutions.  He  recommends  her  to  de- 
clare her  intention  of  peaceably  withdrawing  from  the  Union,  in 
such  a  case.  Time  will  show  whether  the  majority  of  her  citi- 
zens will  prefer  sacrificing  their  connexion  with  the  Union,  or 
their  slavery  ;  whether  the  separation  will  be  allowed  by  the  other 
States  to  take  place  ;  or,  if  it  be,  whether  South  Carolina  will  not 
speedily  desire  a  readmission. 


RURAL    LABOUR.  169 

through  the  general  degradation  of  society;  and 
then  the  community  would  begin  again  to  rise, 
from  a  very  low  point.  But  it  will  be  seen  that  I 
do  not  anticipate  that  there  will  be  room  or  time 
for  this  set  of  circumstances  to  take  place.  I  say 
this  in  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  a  very  per- 
ceptible tinge  of  negro  blood  is  visible  in  some  of 
the  first  families  of  Louisiana ;  a  fact  learned  from 
residents  of  high  quality  on  the  spot. 

How  stands  the  case,  finally  ? — A  large  propor- 
tion of  the  labour  of  the  United  States  is  held  on 
principles  wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  principles 
of  the  constitution :  whatever  may  be  true  about 
its  origin,  it  is  now  inefficient,  wasteful,  destruc- 
tive, to  a  degree  which  must  soon  cause  a  change 
of  plan:  some  who  see  the  necessity  of  such  a 
change,  are  in  favour  of  reversing  the  original  po- 
licy ; — slavery  having  once  been  begun  in  order  to 
till  the  land,  they  are  now  for  usurping  a  new  ter- 
ritory in  order  to  employ  their  slaves  :  others  are 
for  banishing  the  labour  which  is  the  one  thing 
most  needful  to  their  country,  in  every  way.  While 
all  this  confusion  and  mismanagement  exist,  here 
is  the  labour,  actually  on  the  land,  ready  to  be 
employed  to  better  purpose ;  and  in  the  treasury 
are  the  funds  by  which  the  transmutation  of  slave 
into  free  labour  might  be  effected, — at  once  in  the 
District  of  Columbia;  and  by  subsequent  arrange - 

VOL.    II.  I 


170  RURAL    LABOUR. 

ments  in  the  slave  States.  Many  matters  of  detail 
would  have  to  be  settled :  the  distribution  would  be 
difficult ;  but  it  is  not  impossible.  Virginia,  whose 
revenue  is  derived  from  the  rearing  of  slaves  for  the 
south,  whose  property  is  the  beings  themselves, 
and  not  their  labour,  must,  in  justice,  receive  a 
larger  compensation  than  such  States  as  Alabama 
and  Louisiana,  where  the  labour  is  the  wealth,  and 
which  would  be  therefore  immediately  enriched  by 
the  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  labour  which 
would  follow  upon  emancipation.  Such  arrange- 
ments may  be  difficult  to  make ;  but  "  when  there's 
a  will  there's  a  way ;"  and  when  it  is  generally  per- 
ceived that  the  abolition  of  slavery  must  take 
place,  the  great  principle  will  not  long  be  allowed 
to  lie  in  fetters  of  detail.  The  Americans  have 
done  more  difficult  things  than  this ;  though  as- 
suredly none  greater.  The  restoration  of  two  mil- 
lions and  a  half  of  people  to  their  human  rights 
will  be  as  great  a  deed  as  the  history  of  the  world 
will  probably  ever  have  to  exhibit.  In  none  of  its 
pages  are  there  names  more  lustrous  than  those  of 
the  clear-eyed  and  fiery-hearted  few  who  began 
and  are  achieving  the  virtuous  revolution. 


171 


CHAPTER  II. 


TRANSPORT  AND  MARKETS 


"  Science  and  Art  urge  on  the  useful  toil ; 
New  mould  a  climate,  and  create  the  soil. 
On  yielding  Nature  urge  their  new  demands, 
And  ask  not  gifts,  but  tribute,  at  her  hands." 

BarbauU. 


NATURE  has  done  so  much  for  the  United  States  in 
this  article  of  their  economy,  and  has  indicated  so 
clearly  what  remained  for  human  hands  to  do,  that 
it  is  very  comprehensible  to  the  traveller  why  this 
new  country  so  far  transcends  others  of  the  same 
age  in  markets  and  means  of  transport.  The  ports 
of  the  United  States  are,  singularly  enough,  scat- 
tered round  the  whole  of  their  boundaries.  Besides 
those  on  the  seaboard,  there  are  many  in  the  inte- 
rior; on  the  northern  lakes,  and  on  thousands  of 

i  2 


172  TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS. 

miles  of  deep  rivers.  No  nook  in  the  country  is  at 
a  despairing  distance  from  a  market ;  and  where  the 
usual  incentives  to  enterprise  exist,  the  means  of 
transport  are  sure  to  be  provided,  in  the  proportion 
in  which  they  are  wanted. 

Even  in  the  south,  where,  the  element  of  wages 
being  lost,  and  the  will  of  the  labourer  being  lost 
with  them,  there  are  no  adequate  means  of  execut- 
ing even  the  best-conceived  enterprises,*  more  has 
been  done  than  could  have  been  expected  under 
the  circumstances.  The  mail  roads  are  still  ex- 
tremely bad.  I  found,  in  travelling  through  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia,  that  the  drivers  consider 
themselves  entitled  to  get  on  by  any  means  they 
can  devise :  that  nobody  helps  and  nobody  hinders 
them.  It  was  constantly  happening  that  the  stage 
came  to  a  stop  on  the  brink  of  a  wide  and  a  deep 
puddle,  extending  all  across  the  road.  The  driver 
helped  himself,  without  scruple,  to  as  many  rails  of 
the  nearest  fence  as  might  serve  to  fill  up  the  bot- 

*  "  The  income  of  the  public  works  of  the  State"  (South  Caro- 
lina) "  is  very  small,  not  exceeding  15,000  dollars  per  annum, 
over  the  cost  of  management,  although  the  State  has  incurred  a 
debt  of  2,000,000  in  constructing  them.  In  many  parts  of  the 
State,  canals  have  been  constructed,  -which  do  not  yield  sufficient 
to  pay  their  current  expenses ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  State 
road,  and  the  Columbia  canal,  there  is  hardly  a  public  work  in  the 
State,  which,  put  up  at  public  auction,  would  find  a  purchaser." 
1833.  American  Annual  Register,  p.  285. 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  173 

torn  of  the  hole,  or  break  our  descent  into  it.  On 
inquiry,  I  found  it  was  not  probable  that  either 
road  or  fence  would  be  mended  till  both  had  gone 
to  absolute  destruction. 

The  traffic  on  these  roads  is  so  small,  that  the 
stranger  feels  himself  almost  lost  in  the  wilderness. 
In  the  course  of  several  days'  journey,  we  saw,  (with 
the  exception  of  the  wagons  of  a  few  encampments,) 
only  one  vehicle  besides  our  own.  It  was  a  stage 
returning  from  Charleston.  Our  meeting  in  the 
forest  was  like  the  meeting  of  ships  at  sea.  We 
asked  the  passengers  from  the  south  for  news  from 
Charleston  and  Europe ;  and  they  questioned  us 
about  the  state  of  politics  at  Washington.  The 
eager  vociferation  of  drivers  and  passengers  was 
such  as  is  very  unusual,  out  of  exile.  We  were 
desired  to  give  up  all  thoughts  of  going  by  the 
eastern  road  to  Charleston.  The  road  might  be 
called  impassable ;  and  there  was  nothing  to  eat  by 
the  way.  So  we  described  a  circuit,  by  Camden 
and  Columbia. 

An  account  of  an  actual  day's  journey  will  give 
the  best  idea  of  what  travelling  is  in  such  places. 
We  had  travelled  from  Richmond,  Virginia,  the  day 
before,  (March  2nd,  1835,)  and  had  not  had  any 
rest,  when,  at  midnight,  we  came  to  a  river  which 
had  no  bridge.  The  "  scow"  had  gone  over  with 
another  stage,  and  we  stood  under  the  stars  for  a 


174  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

long  time ;  hardly  less  than  an  hour.  The  scow 
was  only  just  large  enough  to  hold  the  coach  and 
ourselves ;  so  that  it  was  thought  safest  for  the  pas- 
sengers to  alight,  and  go  on  board  on  foot.  In  this 
process,  I  found  myself  over  the  ankles  in  mud.  A 
few  minutes  after  we  had  driven  on  again,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  we  had  to  get  out  to 
change  coaches ;  after  which  we  proceeded,  without 
accident,  though  very  slowly,  till  daylight.  Then 
the  stage  sank  down  into  a  deep  rut,  and  the  horses 
struggled  in  vain.  We  were  informed  that  we  were 
"  mired,"  and  must  all  get  out.  I  stood  for  some 
time  to  witness  what  is  very  pretty  for  once ;  but 
wearisome  when  it  occurs  ten  times  a  day.  The 
driver  carries  an  axe,  as  a  part  of  the  stage  appara- 
tus. He  cuts  down  a  young  tree,  for  a  lever,  which 
is  introduced  under  the  nave  of  the  sunken  wheel ; 
a  log  serving  for  a  block.  The  gentleman  pas- 
sengers all  help ;  shouting  to  the  horses,  which  tug 
and  scramble  as  vigorously  as  the  gentlemen.  We 
ladies  sometimes  gave  our  humble  assistance  by 
blowing  the  driver's  horn.  Sometimes  a  cluster  of 
negroes  would  assemble  from  a  neighbouring  plan- 
tation ;  and  in  extreme  cases,  they  would  bring  a 
horse,  to  add  to  our  team.  The  rescue  from  the 
rut  was  effected  in  any  time  from  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  to  two  hours.  This  particular  3rd  of  March, 
two  hours  were  lost  by  this  first  mishap.  It  was 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  175 

very  cold,  and  I  walked  on  alone,  sure  of  not  miss- 
ing my  road  in  a  region  where  there  was  no 
other.  When  I  had  proceeded  two  miles,  I  stopped 
and  looked  around  me.  I  was  on  a  rising  ground, 
with  no  object  whatever  visible  but  the  wild,  black 
forest,  extending  on  all  sides  as  far  as  I  could  see, 
and  the  red  road  cut  through  it,  as  straight  as  an 
arrow,  till  it  was  lost  behind  a  rising  ground  at 
either  extremity.  I  know  nothing  like  it,  except 
a  Salvator  Rosa  I  once  saw.  The  stage  soon  after 
took  me  up,  and  we  proceeded  fourteen  miles  to 
breakfast.  We  were  faint  with  hunger ;  but  there 
was  no  refreshment  for  us.  The  family  breakfas-t 
had  been  long  over,  and  there  was  not  a  scrap  of 
food  in  the  house.  We  proceeded,  till  at  one 
o'clock  we  reached  a  private  dwelling,  where  the 
good  woman  was  kind  enough  to  provide  dinner 
for  us,  though  the  family  had  dined.  She  gave  us 
a  comfortable  meal,  and  charged  only  a  quarter 
dollar  each.  She  stands  in  all  the  party's  books 
as  a  hospitable  dame. 

We  had  no  sooner  left  her  house  than  we  had  to 
get  out  to  pass  on  foot  a  bridge  too  crazy  for  us  to 
venture  over  it  in  the  carriage.  Half  a  mile  before 
reaching  the  place  where  we  were  to  have  tea,  the 
thorough-brace  broke,  and  we  had  to  walk  through 
a  snow  shower  to  the  inn.  We  had  not  proceeded 
above  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  this  place  when  the 


176  TRANSPORT   AND   MARKETS. 

traces  broke.  After  this,  we  were  allowed  to  sit 
still  in  the  carriage  till  near  seven  in  the  morning, 
when  we  were  approaching  Raleigh,  North  Caro- 
lina. We  then  saw  a  carriage  "  mired1'  and  de- 
serted by  driver  and  horses,  but  tenanted  by  some 
travellers  who  had  been  waiting  there  since  eight 
the  evening  before.  While  we  were  pitying  their 
fate,  our  vehicle  once  more  sank  into  a  rut.  It 
was,  however,  extricated  in  a  short  time,  and  we 
reached  Raleigh  in  safety. 

It  was  worth  undergoing  a  few  travelling  disas- 
ters to  witness  the  skill  and  temper  of  the  drivers, 
and  the  inexhaustible  good-nature  of  the  passen- 
gers. Men  of  business  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world  would  be  visibly  annoyed  by  such  delays  as 
I  have  described ;  but  in  America  I  never  saw  any 
gentleman's  temper  give  way  under  these  acci- 
dents. Every  one  jumps  out  in  a  moment,  and 
sets  to  work  to  help  the  driver ;  every  one  has  his 
joke,  and,  when  it  is  over,  the  ladies  are  sure  to 
have  the  whole  represented  to  them  in  its  most 
amusing  light.  One  driver  on  this  journey  seemed 
to  be  a  novice,  or  in  some  way  inferior  in  confi- 
dence to  the  rest.  A  gentleman  of  our  party  chose 
to  sit  beside  him  on  the  box ;  and  he  declared  that 
the  driver  shut  his  eyes  when  we  were  coming  to  a 
hole;  and  that  when  he  called  piteously  on  the 
passengers  for  help,  it  was  because  we  were  taking 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  177 

aim  at  a  deep  rut.  Usually,  the  confidence  and 
skill  of  the  drivers  were  equally  remarkable.  If 
they  thought  the  stage  more  full  than  was  conve- 
nient, they  would  sometimes  try  to  alarm  the  pas- 
sengers, so  as  to  induce  some  of  them  to  remain 
for  the  next  stage ;  and  it  happened  two  or  three 
times  that  a  fat  passenger  or  two  fell  into  the  trap, 
and  declined  proceeding ;  but  it  was  easy  for  the 
experienced  to  see  that  the  alarm  was  feigned. 
In  such  cases,  after  a  splash  into  water,  in  the 
dark,  news  would  be  heard  from  the  box  that  we 
were  in  the  middle  of  a  creek,  and  could  not  go  a 
step,  back  or  forward,  without  being  overturned 
into  the  water.  Though  the  assertion  was  dis- 
proved the  next  minute,  it  produced  its  effect. 
Again,  when  the  moon  was  going  down  early,  and 
the  lamps  were  found  to  be,  of  course,  out  of 
order,  and  the  gentlemen  insisted  on  buying  can- 
dles by  the  road-side,  and  walking  on  in  bad  places, 
each  with  a  tallow  light  in  his  hand,  the  driver 
would  let  drop  that,  as  we  had  to  be  overturned 
before  dawn,  it  did  not  much  matter  whether  it  was 
now  or  later.  After  this,  the  stoutest  of  the  com- 
pany were  naturally  left  behind  at  the  next  stop- 
ping-place, and  the  driver  chuckled  at  the  light- 
ening of  his  load. 

At  the  close  of  a  troublesome  journey  in  the 
south,  we  drew  up,  with  some  noise,  before  a  hotel, 

i5 


178  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

at  three  in  the  morning.  The  driver  blew  a  blast 
upon  an  execrable  horn.  Nobody  seemed  stirring. 
Slaves  are  the  most  slow-moving  people  in  the 
world,  except  upon  occasion. 

"  What  sleepy  folks  they  are  here  !"  exclaimed 
the  driver. 

Another  blast  on  the  horn,  long  and  screeching. 
"  Never  saw  such  people  for  sleeping.     Music 
has  no  effect  on  'em  at  all.     I  shall  have  to  try 
fire-arms." 
Another  blast. 

"  We've  waked  the  watchman,  however.     That's 
something  done." 
Another  blast. 

"  Never  knew  such  people.  Why,  Lazarus  was 
far  easier  to  raise." 

The  best  testimony  that  I  can  bear  to  the  skill 
with  which  travelling  is  conducted  on  such  roads 
as  these,  and  also  in  steam-boats,  is  the  fact  that 
I  travelled  upwards  of  ten  thousand  miles  in  the 
United  States,  by  land  and  water,  without  acci- 
dent I  was  twice  nearly  overturned ;  but  never 
quite. 

It  has  been  seen  what  the  mail  routes  are  like 
in  the  south ;  and  I  have  mentioned  that  greater 
progress  has  been  made  in  other  means  of  transport 
than  might  have  been  expected.  I  referred  to  the 
new  rail-roads  which  are  being  opened  in  various 


TRANSPORT  AMD  MARKETS.         179 

directions.  I  saw  few  circumstances  in  the  south 
with  which  I  was  so  well  pleased.  By  the  free 
communication  which  will  thus  be  opened,  much 
sectional  prejudice  will  be  dispelled:  the  inferiority 
of  slave  to  free  labour  will  be  the  more  speedily 
brought  home  to  every  man's  convictions ;  and  new 
settlers,  abhorring  slavery,  will  come  in  and  mix 
with  the  present  population ;  be  the  laws  regarding 
labour  what  they  may. 

The  only  rail-roads  completed  in  the  south,  when 
I  was  there,  were  the  Charleston  and  Augusta  one, 
two  short  ones  in  the  States  of  Alabama  and  Mis- 
sissippi, and  one  of  five  miles  from  Lake  Pont- 
chartrain  to  New  Orleans.  There  is  likely  to  be 
soon  a  magnificent  line  from  Charleston  to  Cincin- 
nati ;  and  the  line  from  Norfolk,  Virginia,  to  New 
York,  is  now  almost  uninterrupted. 

The  quarter  of  an  hour  employed  in  reaching 
New  Orleans  from  Lake  Pontchartrain  was  one 
of  the  most  delightful  seasons  in  all  my  travels. 
My  notion  of  a  swamp  was  corrected  for  ever.  It 
was  the  end  of  April ;  and  the  flowering  reeds  and 
tropical  shrubs  made  the  whole  scene  one  gay  gar- 
den. It  was  odd  to  be  passing  through  a  gay 
garden  on  a  rail-road.  Green  cypress  grew  out 
of  the  clear  water  everywhere ;  and  there  were 
acres  of  blue  and  white  iris ;  and  a  thousand  rich, 
unknown  blossoms  waving  over  the  pools.  A  negro 


180  TRANSPORT   AND   MARKETS. 

here  and  there  emerged  from  a  flowery  thicket, 
pushing  himself  on  a  raft,  or  in  a  canoe,  through 
the  reeds.  The  sluggish  bayou  was  on  one  side ; 
and  here  and  there,  a  group  of  old  French  houses 
on  the  other.  It  was  like  skimming,  as  one  does 
in  dreams,  over  the  meadows  of  Sicily,  or  the 
plains  of  Ceylon. 

That  which  may  be  seen  on  either  hand  of  the 
Charleston  and  Augusta  rail-road  is  scarcely  less 
beautiful ;  but  my  journeys  on  it  were  by  far  the 
most  fatiguing  of  any  I  underwent  in  the  country. 
The  motion  and  the  noise  are  distracting.  Whether 
this  is  owing  to  its  being  built  on  piles,  in  many 
places ;  whether  the  fault  is  in  the  ground  or  the 
construction,  I  do  not  know.  Almost  all  the  rail- 
road travelling  in  America  is  very  fatiguing  and 
noisy.  I  was  told  that  this  was  chiefly  owing  to 
the  roads  being  put  to  use  as  soon  as  finished,  in- 
stead of  the  work  being  left  to  settle  for  some 
months.  How  far  this  is  true,  I  do  not  pretend  to 
say.  The  rail-roads  which  I  saw  in  progress  were 
laid  on  wood  instead  of  stone.  The  patentee  dis- 
covered that  wood  settles  after  frost  more  evenly 
than  stone.  The  original  cost,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  is  about  two  thousand  dollars  per  mile. 

One  great  inconvenience  of  the  American  rail- 
roads is  that,  from  wood  being  used  for  fuel,  there 
is  an  incessant  shower  of  large  sparks,  destructive 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  181 

to  dress  and  comfort,  unless  all  the  windows  are 
shut ;  which  is  impossible  in  warm  weather.  Some 
serious  accidents  from  fire  have  happened  in  this 
way  ;  and,  during  my  last  trip  on  the  Columbia  and 
Philadelphia  rail  road,  a  lady  in  the  car  had  a 
shawl  burned  to  destruction  on  her  shoulders ; 
and  I  found  that  my  own  gown  had  thirteen  holes 
in  it ;  and  my  veil,  with  which  I  saved  my  eyes, 
more  than  could  be  counted. 

My  first  trip  on  the  Charleston  rail-road  was 
more  amusing  than  prosperous.  The  arrange- 
ments were  scarcely  completed,  and  the  apparatus 
was  then  in  a  raw  state.  Our  party  left  Columbia 
at  seven  in  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  March,  by 
stage,  hoping  to  meet  the  rail-road  train  at  Branch- 
ville,  sixty  miles  from  Columbia,  at  eleven  the  next 
morning,  and  to  reach  Charleston,  sixty-two  more, 
to  dinner.  Towards  morning,  when  the  moon  had 
set,  the  stage  bumped  against  something;  and  the 
driver  declared  that  he  must  wait  for  the  day-spring, 
before  he  could  proceed  another  step.  When  the 
dawn  brightened,  we  found  that  we  had,  as  we  sup- 
posed, missed  our  passage  by  the  train,  for  the  sake 
of  a  stump  about  two  inches  above  the  ground, 
We  hastened  breakfast  at  Orangeburg ;  and  when 
we  got  to  Branchville,  found  we  need  have  been  in 
no  hurry.  The  train  had  not  arrived ;  and,  some 


182  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

little  accident  having  happened,  we  waited  for  it 
till  near  two  o'clock. 

I  never  saw  an  economical  work  of  art  harmonise 
so  well  with  the  vastness  of  a  natural  scene,  as 
here.  From  the  piazza  of  the  house  at  Branch- 
ville,  the  forest  fills  the  whole  scene,  with  the  rail- 
road stretching  through  it,  in  a  perfectly  straight 
line,  to  the  vanishing  point.  The  approaching 
train  cannot  be  seen  so  far  off  as  this.  When  it 
appears,  a  black  dot,  marked  by  its  wreath  of 
smoke,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  watching  it,  grow- 
ing and  self-moving,  till  it  stops  before  the  door. 
I  cannot  draw ;  but  I  could  not  help  trying  to  make 
a  sketch  of  this,  the  largest  and  longest  perspective 
I  ever  saw.  We  were  well  employed  for  two  hours 
in  basking  in  the  sun,  noting  the  mock-orange- 
trees  before  the  house,  the  turkeys  strutting,  the 
robins  (twice  as  large  as  the  English)  hopping  and 
flitting;  and  the  house,  apparently  just  piled  up  of 
wood  just  cut  from  the  forest.  Everything  was  as 
new  as  the  rail-road.  As  it  turned  out,  we  should 
have  been  better  employed  in  dining ;  but  we  had 
no  other  idea  than  of  reaching  Charleston  in  three 
or  four  hours. 

For  the  first  thirty-five  miles,  which  we  accom- 
plished by  half-past  four,  we  called  it  the  most  in- 
teresting rail-road  we  had  ever  been  on.  The 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  183 

whole  sixty-two  miles  was  almost  a  dead  level,  the 
descent  being  only  two  feet.  Where  pools,  creeks, 
and  gullies  had  to  be  passed,  the  road  was  elevated 
on  piles,  and  thence  the  look  down  on  an  expanse 
of  evergreens  was  beautiful.  This  is,  probably, 
the  reason  why  three  gentlemen  went,  a  few  days 
afterwards,  to  walk,  of  all  places,  on  the  rail-road. 
When  they  were  in  the  middle  of  one  of  these  ele- 
vated portions,  where  there  is  a  width  of  only  about 
three  inches  on  either  side  the  tracks,  they  heard  a 
shout,  and  looking  back,  saw  a  train  coming  upon 
them  with  such  speed  as  to  leave  no  hope  that  it 
could  be  stopped  before  it  reached  them.  There 
was  no  alternative ;  all  three  leaped  down,  upwards 
of  twenty  feet,  into  the  swamp,  and  escaped  with  a 
wetting,  and  with  looking  exceedingly  foolish  in 
their  own  eyes. 

At  half-past  four,  our  boiler  sprang  a  leak,  and 
there  was  an  end  of  our  prosperity.  In  two  hours, 
we  hungry  passengers  were  consoled  with  the  news 
that  it  was  mended.  But  the  same  thing  happened, 
again  and  again ;  and  always  in  the  middle  of  a 
swamp,  where  we  could  do  nothing  but  sit  still. 
The  gentlemen  tried  to  amuse  themselves  with 
frog-hunting:  but  it  was  a  poor  resource.  Once 
we  stopped  before  a  comfortable-looking  house, 
where  a  hot  supper  was  actually  on  the  table ;  but 
we  were  not  allowed  to  stop,  even  so  long  as  to  get 


184  TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS. 

out.  The  gentlemen  made  a  rush  into  the  house 
to  see  what  they  could  get.  One  carried  off  a 
chicken  entire,  for  his  party ;  another  seized  part 
of  a  turkey.  Our  gentlemen  were  not  alert  enough. 
The  old  lady's  table  was  cleared  too  quickly  for 
them,  and  quite  to  her  own  consternation.  All 
that  we,  a  party  of  five,  had  to  support  us,  was 
some  strips  of  ham,  pieces  of  dry  bread,  and  three 
sweet  potatoes,  all  jumbled  together  in  a  handker- 
chief. Our  thoughts  wandered  back  to  this  supper- 
table,  an  hour  after,  when  we  were  again  sticking 
in  the  middle  of  a  swamp.  I  had  fallen  asleep, 
(for  it  was  now  the  middle  of  a  second  night  of 
travelling,)  and  was  awakened  by  such  a  din  as  I 
had  never  heard.  I  could  not  recollect  where  I 
was ;  I  looked  out  of  the  window,  and  saw,  by  the 
light  of  the  moon,  white  houses  on  the  bank  of  the 
swamp,  and  the  waving  shrubs  of  the  forest ;  but 
the  distracting  din  was  like  nothing  earthly.  It 
presently  struck  me  that  we  were  being  treated 
with  a  frog-concert.  It  is  worth  hearing,  for  once, 
anything  so  unparalleled  as  the  knocking,  ticking, 
creaking,  and  rattling,  in  every  variety  of  key. 
The  swamp  was  as  thick  of  noises  as  the  forest  is 
of  leaves:  but,  five  minutes  of  the  concert  are 
enough ;  while  a  hundred  years  are  not  enough  of 
the  forest.  After  many  times  stopping  and  pro- 
ceeding, we  arrived  at  Charleston  between  four  and 


TRANSPORT   AND   MARKETS.  185 

five  in  the  morning ;  and,  it  being  too  early  to  dis- 
turb our  friends,  crept  cold  and  weary  to  bed,  at 
the  Planters'  Hotel.  It  was  well  that  all  this  hap- 
pened in  the  month  of  March.  Three  months 
later,  such  detention  in  the  swamps  by  night  might 
have  been  the  death  of  three-fourths  of  the  pas- 
sengers. I  have  not  heard  of  any  mismanagement 
since  the  concern  has  been  put  fairly  in  operation. 
There  are  many  rail-roads  in  Virginia,  and  a 
line  to  New  York,  through  Maryland  and  Dela- 
ware. There  is  in  Kentucky  a  line  from  Louis- 
ville to  Lexington.  But  it  is  in  Pennsylvania, 
New  York,  Rhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts,  that 
they  abound.  All  have  succeeded  so  admirably, 
that  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  establishment  of  this 
means  of  communication  over  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  United  States,  within  a  few  years,  as  by-ways 
to  the  great  high-ways  which  Nature  has  made  to 
run  through  this  vast  country.  The  evil  of  a  super- 
abundance of  land  in  proportion  to  labour  will  thus 
be  lessened  so  far,  that  there  will  be  an  economy  of 
time,  and  a  facility  of  intercourse,  which  will  im- 
prove the  intelligence  of  the  country  population. 
There  will,  also,  be  a  facility  of  finding  out  where 
new  supplies  of  labour  are  most  wanted,  and  of 
supplying  them.  By  advantageous  employment 
for  small  capitals  being  thus  offered  within  bounds, 
it  may  also  be  hoped  that  many  will  be  prevented 


186  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

from  straying  into  the  wilderness.  The  best  friends 
of  the  moral  as  well  as  economical  interests  of  the 
Americans,  will  afford  all  possible  encouragement 
to  wise  schemes  for  the  promotion  of  intercourse, 
especially  between  the  north  and  south. 

I  believe  the  best-constructed  rail -road  in  the 
States  is  the  Boston  and  Lowell,  Massachusetts : 
length,  twenty-five  miles.  Its  importance,  from  the 
amount  of  traffic  upon  it,  may  be  estimated  from  the 
fact  that  some  thousands  of  dollars  were  spent,  the 
winter  after  it  was  opened,  in  clearing  away  a  fall  of 
snow  from  it.  It  was  again  covered,  the  next  night. 

Another  line  from  Boston  is  to  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  forty- three  miles  long.  This  opens 
a  very  speedy  communication  with  New  York  ;  the 
distance,  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  miles,  be- 
ing performed  in  twenty  hours,  by  rail-road  and 
steam-boat. 

There  is  a  good  line  from  Boston  to  Worcester ; 
forty-five  miles  in  length.  Its  estimated  cost  is 
8a3,904  dollars.  This  road  is  to  be  carried  on 
across  the  entire  State,  to  the  Connecticut ;  from 
whence  a  line  is  now  in  course  of  construction  to 
the  Hudson,  to  issue  opposite  Albany.  There 
are  proposals  for  a  tunnel  under  the  Hudson  at 
Albany ;  and  from  Albany,  there  is  already  canal 
and  rail-road  communication  to  Lake  Erie.  There 
is  now  an  uninterrupted  communication  from  the 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  187 

Atlantic  to  the  far  end  of  Lake  Michigan.  It  only 
remains  to  extend  a  line  thence  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  circle  is  complete. 

The  great  Erie  canal,  intersecting  the  whole 
State  of  New  York,  is  too  celebrated  to  need  much 
notice  here.  Its  entire  length  is  three  hundred 
and  sixty- three  miles.  It  is  forty  feet  wide  at  top, 
twenty-eight  at  bottom,  and  four  feet  deep.  There 
are  eighty-four  locks  on  the  main  canal.  The 
total  rise  and  fall  is  six  hundred  and  ninety-two 
feet.  The  cost  was  9,500,000  dollars.  Though 
this  canal  has  been  opened  only  since  1825, 
it  is  found  already  insufficient  for  the  immense 
commerce  carried  on  between  the  European  world 
and  the  great  West,  through  the  eastern  ports. 
There  is  a  rail-road  now  running  across  the  en- 
tire State,  which  is  expected  to  exhibit  much 
more  traffic  than  the  canal,  without  at  all  interfer- 
ing with  its  business. 

I  traversed  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  twice ;  the 
first  time  by  the  canal,  the  next  by  stage,  which  I 
much  preferred,  both  on  account  of  the  views  being 
better  from  the  high  road,  and  from  the  discomfort 
of  the  canal- boats.  I  had  also  the  opportunity  of 
observing  the  courses  of  the  canal  and  the  new 
rail-road  throughout. 

I  was  amused,  the  first  time,  at  hearing  some 


188  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

gentlemen  plan  how  the  bed  of  the  shoaly  Mohawk 
might  be  deepened,  so  as  to  admit  the  passage  of 
steam-boats.  It  would  be  nearly  as  easy  to  dig  a 
river  at  once  for  the  purpose,  and  pump  it  full ;  in 
other  words,  to  make  another  canal,  twice  as  won- 
derful as  the  present.  The  rail-road  is  a  better 
scheme  by  far.  In  winter  the  traffic  is  continued 
by  sleighs  on  the  canal  ice :  and  a  pretty  sight  it 
must  be. 

The  aspect  of  the  valley  was  really  beautiful  last 
June.  It  must  have  made  the  Mohawk  Indians 
heart-sore  to  part  with  it  in  its  former  quiet  state ; 
but  now  there  is  more  beauty,  as  well  as  more  life. 
There  are  farms,  in  every  stage  of  advancement, 
with  all  the  stir  of  life  about  them ;  and  the  still, 
green  graveyard  belonging  to  each,  showing  its 
white  palings  and  tombstones  on  the  hill-side, 
near  at  hand.  Sometimes  a  small  space  in  the 
orchard  is  railed  in  for  this  purpose.  In  a  shal- 
low reach  of  the  river  there  was  a  line  of  cows 
wading  through,  to  bury  themselves  in  the  luxu- 
riant pasture  of  the  islands  in  the  midst  of  the 
Mohawk.  In  a  deeper  part,  the  chain  ferry-boat 
slowly  conveyed  its  passengers  across.  The  soil 
of  the  valley  is  remarkably  rich,  and  the  trees 
and  verdure  unusually  fine.  The  hanging  oak- 
woods  on  the  ridge  were  beautiful;  and  the 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  189 

knolls,  tilled  or  untilled ;  and  the  little  waterfalls 
trickling  or  leaping  down,  to  join  the  rushing  river. 
Little  knots  of  houses  were  clustered  about  the 
locks  and  bridges  of  the  canal ;  and  here  and  there 
a  village,  with  its  white  church  conspicuous, 
spread  away  into  the  middle  of  the  narrow  valley. 
The  green  and  white  canal  boats  might  be  seen 
stealing  along  under  the  opposite  ridge,  or  issuing 
from  behind  a  clump  of  elms  or  birches,  or  gh'ding 
along  a  graceful  aqueduct,  with  the  diminished 
figures  of  the  walking  passengers  seen  moving 
along  the  bank.  On  the  other  hand,  the  rail-road 
skirted  the  base  of  the  ridge,  and  the  shanties  of 
the  Irish  labourers,  roofed  with  turf,  and  the  smoke 
issuing  from  a  barrel  at  one  corner,  were  so  grouped 
as  to  look  picturesque,  however  little  comfortable. 
In  some  of  the  narrowest  passes  of  the  valley,  the 
high  road,  the  rail-road,  the  canal,  and  the  river, 
are  all  brought  close  together,  and  look  as  if  they 
were  trying  which  could  escape  first  into  a  larger 
space.  The  scene  at  Little  Falls  is  magnificent, 
viewed  from  the  road,  in  the  light  of  a  summer's 
morning.  The  carrying  the  canal  and  rail-road 
through  this  pass  was  a  grand  idea ;  and  the  soli- 
dity and  beauty  of  the  works  are  worthy  of  it. 

The  canal  was  commenced  in  1817 ;  and  the  first 
boat  from  the  inland  lakes  arrived  at  New  York 


190  TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS. 

on  the  4th  of  November  1825.  The  first  year's 
revenue  amounted  to  566,221  dollars-  In  1836, 
the  tolls  amounted  to  1,294,649  dollars. 

The  incorporated  rail-road  companies  in  the 
State  of  New  York  in  1836  were  fifty;  their  capi- 
tals varying  from  fifteen  thousand  to  ten  million 
dollars. 

When  I  first  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  in  Novem- 
ber 1834,  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  stupendous 
Portage  rail-road,  running  between  the  two  canals 
which  reach  the  opposite  bases  of  the  mountains. 
The  stage  in  which  I  travelled  was  on  one  side  of 
a  deep  ravine,  bristling  with  pines ;  while  on  the 
other  side  was  the  lofty  embankment,  such  a  wall 
as  I  had  never  imagined  could  be  built,  on  the 
summit  of  which  ran  the  rail-road,  its  line  trace- 
able for  some  miles,  with  frequent  stations  and 
trains  of  baggage-cars.  One  track  of  this  road  had 
not  long  been  opened ;  and  the  work  was  a  splen- 
did novelty.  I  had  afterwards  the  pleasure  of  tra- 
velling on  it,  from  end  to  end. 

This  road  is  upwards  of  thirty- six  miles  in  length, 
and  at  one  point  reaches  an  elevation  of  2,491  feet 
above  the  sea.  It  consists  of  eleven  levels,  and  ten 
inclined  planes.  About  three  hundred  feet  of  the 
road,  at  the  head  and  foot  of  each  plane,  is  made 
exactly  level.  The  embankments  were  made  twen- 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  191 

ty-five  feet  wide  at  the  top,  and  the  bed  of  the 
road  in  excavations  is  twenty-five  feet,  with  wide 
side  ditches.  Much  care  in  drainage  was  neces- 
sary, as  the  road  passes  chiefly  along  the  steep 
slopes  of  hills,  of  clayey  soil,  and  over  innumer- 
able small  streams.  Sixty-eight  culverts  of  ma- 
sonry pass  under  the  road,  and  eighty-five  drains. 
There  are  four  viaducts  of  hammer-dressed  sand- 
stone, to  carry  the  line  over  streams.  The  most 
splendid  of  these  is  over  the  Conemaugh,  eight 
miles  from  Johnstown.  It  has  a  semi-circular  arch 
of  eighty  feet  span ;  the  top  of  whose  masonry  is 
seventy  feet  above  the  water.  There  is  a  tunnel 
through  a  spur  of  the  Alleghany,  nine  hundred 
and  one  feet  long,  by  twenty  feet  wide,  and  nine- 
teen high.  The  foundations  of  this  road  are  partly 
stone  and  partly  wood.  Each  station  has  two 
steam-engines ;  one  being  used  at  a  time,  and  the 
other  provided  to  prevent  delay,  in  case  of  acci- 
dent. Four  cars,  each  loaded  with  7000  Ibs.  can 
be  drawn  up,  and  four  such  let  down  at  a  time ; 
and  from  six  to  ten  such  trips  can  be  accom- 
plished in  an  hour.  A  safety-car  is  attached 
to  the  train,  both  in  ascending  and  descending ; 
and  though  not  an  absolute  safeguard,  it  much  in- 
creases the  security.  This  little  machine,  when 
pressed  upon  from  behind,  grounds  its  point,  and 
materially  checks  the  velocity  of  the  otherwise 


192  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

flying  train.  The  iron  rails,  and  some  other  of  the 
metal  portions  of  the  work,  were  imported  from 
Great  Britain. 

The  cost  of  constructing  this  rail-road  at  the 
contract  prices  was  1,634,357  dollars;  but  this 
does  not  include  office  expenses,  or  engineering,  or 
accidental  extra  allowances  to  contractors.  During 
the  first  year  of  the  two  tracks  being  opened,  fifty 
thousand  tons  of  freight,  and  twenty  thousand  pas- 
sengers, passed  over  the  road. 

Five  years  before,  this  line  of  passage  was  an 
untrodden  wilderness.  The  act  authorising  the 
commencement  of  the  work  passed  the  Pennsyl- 
vania legislature  on  the  21st  of  March,  1831.  On 
the  12th  of  the  next  month,  the  tents  of  the  first 
working  party  were  pitched  at  the  head  of  the 
mountain-branch  of  the  Conemaugh.  The  party 
consisted  of  two  engineers,  a  surveyor,  twelve  as- 
sistants and  axemen,  and  a  cook.  A  track,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  wide,  overgrown  with 
heavy  spruce  and  hemlock  timber,  had  to  be 
cleared,  for  a  distance  of  thirty  miles.  The  amount 
of  labour  was  increased  as  the  work  proceeded: 
and,  at  one  time,  as  many  as  two  thousand  men 
were  employed  upon  the  road.  On  the  26th  of 
November,  1833,  the  first  car  traversed  the  whole 
length  on  the  single  track  that  was  finished.  The 
canals  were  then  closed  for  the  season ;  but,  during 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  193 

the  next  March  the  road  was  opened  for  a  public 
highway.  In  another  year  the  enterprise  was  com- 
pleted: and  in  May  1835,  the  State  furnished  the 
whole  motive  power.  The  stupendous  work  was 
then  in  full  operation. 

Our  party  (of  four,  one  a  child)  traversed  the 
entire  State  from  Pittsburg  to  Philadelphia  by 
canal  and  rail-road,  in  four  days,  at  an  expense  of 
only  forty- two  dollars,  not  including  provisions. 
There  was  then  great  competition  between  the 
lines  of  canal-boats.  We  went  by  the  new  line, 
whose  boats  were  extraordinarily  clean,  and  the 
table  really  luxurious.  An  omnibus,  sent  from 
the  canal,  conveyed  us  from  our  hotel  at  Pitts- 
burg  to  the  boat,  at  nine  in  the  evening;  and 
we  immediately  set  off.  Berths  were  put  up  for 
the  ladies  of  the  party  in  the  ladies'  dressing-room, 
and  removed  during  the  day.  We  were  called 
early,  and  breakfast  dispatched  before  the  heat 
grew  oppressive;  but,  though  it  was  now  the 
middle  of  July,  I  could  not  remain  in  the  shade 
of  the  cabin :  the  scenery,  during  our  whole  course, 
was  so  beautiful.  Umbrella  and  fan  made  the 
heat  endurable  on  deck,  except  for  the  two  hours 
nearest  to  noon.  The  only  great  inconvenience 
was  the  having  to  remember  perpetually  to  avoid 
the  low  bridges,  which  we  passed,  on  an  average, 
every  quarter  of  an  hour.  When  we  were  all  to- 

VOL.    II.  K 


194  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

gether,  this  was  little  of  an  annoyance ;  for  one  or 
another  was  sure  to  remember  to  give  warning  ; 
but  a  solitary  person,  reading  or  in  reverie,  is 
really  in  danger.  We  heard  of  two  cases  of  young 
ladies,  reading,  who  had  been  crushed  to  death : 
and  we  prohibited  books  upon  deck.  Charley 
thought  the  commotion  caused  on  our  approach  to 
a  bridge  the  best  part  of  our  amusement ;  and  he 
was  heard  to  complain  sometimes  that  it  was  very- 
long  since  we  had  had  any  bridges,  or  when  one 
chanced  to  be  so  lofty  that  we  might  pass  under  it 
without  stooping.  The  best  of  all  in  his  eyes  were  the 
horizontal  ones,  which  compelled  us  to  lie  down  flat. 

The  valley  of  the  Kiskiminites  is  like  one  noble, 
fruitful  park.  Here  and  there  were  harvest  fields 
of  small  grain,"and  of  the  tasselled  Indian  corn:  and 
a  few  coal  and  salt  works,  some  forsaken,  some 
busy,  showed  themselves  on  reaches  of  the  river ; 
but  we  were  usually  enclosed  by  a  circle  of  wooded 
hills,  reposing  in  the  brightest  lights  and  shadows. 
The  canal  commonly  ran  along  the  base  of  one  of 
these  hills;  but  it  often  let  us  slip  into  the  broad 
lucid  stream  of  the  river  itself. 

After  having  left  the  Kiskiminites  behind 
us,  we  crossed  the  Conemaugh  by  a  fine  aque- 
duct, which  continued  its  course  through  a  long 
dark  tunnel,  piercing  the  heart  of  the  mountain. 
The  reflection  of  the  blue  light  behind  us  on  the 


TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS.  195 

straight  line  of  water  in  this  cavern  made  a  beau- 
tiful picture.  The  paths  which  human  hands  have 
piled  upon  one  another  here  form  a  singular  com- 
bination :  the  river  below,  the  aqueduct  over  it ; 
and  higher  still,  the  mountain  road,  winding  steeper 
and  steeper  to  the  summit.  A  settler  lives  on  this 
mountain,  the  bottom  of  whose  well  was  dug  out 
in  making  the  tunnel.  In  the  evening  there  was 
every  combination  of  rock,  hill,  wood,  river,  and 
luxuriant  vegetation  that  could  furnish  forth  a  suc- 
cession of  noble  pictures.  Charley  was  as  well 
amused  as  the  rest  of  us.  He  understood  the  con- 
struction and  management  of  the  locks,  and  was 
never  tired  of  our  rising  and  falling  in  them ;  and 
they  afforded,  besides,  an  opportunity  of  stepping 
ashore  with  his  father,  to  get  us  flowers,  and  run 
along  the  bank  to  the  next  lock.  Of  these  locks 
there  are  a  hundred  and  ninety-two  between 
Pittsburg  and  Philadelphia,  averaging  eight  feet  in 
depth. 

We  were  called  up  before  four  on  the  second 
morning,  and  had  barely  time  to  dress,  step  ashore, 
and  take  our  places  in  the  car,  before  the  train  set 
off.  We  understood  that  the  utmost  possible  ad- 
vantage is  taken  of  the  daylight,  as  the  trains  do 
not  travel  after  dark ;  it  being  made  a  point  of,  that 
the  ropes  should  be  examined  before  each  trip. 

K  2 


196  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

After  having  breakfasted  by  the  way,  we  reached 
the  summit  of  the  Portage  rail-road  between  nine 
and  ten.  There  were  fine  views  all  the  way ;  the 
mountains  opening  and  receding,  and  disclosing 
the  distant  clearings  and  nestling  villages.  All 
around  us  were  plots  of  wild  flowers,  of  many  hues. 

We  were  carried  on  chiefly  by  steam  power, 
partly  by  horse,  partly  by  descending  weight,  and, 
at  the  last,  down  a  long  reach,  of  the  slightest  pos- 
sible inclination,  by  our  own  weight.  The  motion 
was  then  tremendously  rapid,  and  it  subsided  only 
on  our  reaching  the  canal  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains. 

There  was  again  so  much  hurry — there  being 
danger  of  either  of  two  rival  boats  getting  first  pos- 
session of  the  next  locks,  that  we  of  the  last  car  had 
scarcely  time  to  step  on  board  before  the  team  of 
three  horses  began  cantering  and  raising  a  dust  on 
the  towing  path,  and  tugging  us  through  the  water 
at  such  a  rate  as  to  make  the  waves  lash  the  canal 
bank.  Our  boat  won  the  race,  and  we  bolted  with 
a  victorious  force  into  the  chamber  of  the  first  lock. 

We  had  occasionally  to  cross  broad  rivers.  To- 
day we  crossed  the  Juniatta  by  a  rope  ferry,  moved 
by  water-power;  and  afterwards  we  crossed  the 
Susquehanna  (at  the  junction  of  two  branches  of 
the  Juniatta,  the  Susquehanna,  and  two  canals) 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  197 

by  means  of  the  towing-path  being  carried  along 
the  outside  of  the  great  covered  bridge  which 
spans  the  river  at  Duncan's  Island. 

The  next  morning  we  had  to  leave  the  broad, 
clear,  but  shallow  Susquehanna, — the  "  river  of 
rocks,"  as  its  name  imports.  I  had  before  travelled 
almost  its  whole  length  along  its  banks  ;  and,  like 
every  one  who  has  done  so,  loved  its  tranquil 
beauty. 

The  last  stage  of  this  remarkable  journey  was 
from  Columbia  to  Philadelphia,  by  rail-road, 
eighty-one  miles,  which  we  were  seven  hours  in 
performing,  as  the  stoppages  were  frequent  and 
long.  This  work,  which  was  opened  in  1834,  in- 
cludes thirty-one  viaducts,  seventy-three  stone  cul- 
verts, five  hundred  stone  drains,  and  eighteen 
bridges.  Its  cost  was  about  1,600,000  dollars. — 
The  length  of  this  passage  from  Philadelphia  to 
Pittsburg  is  394  miles. 

Where,  I  again  ask,  would  have  been  these  great 
works,  but  for  the  immigration  so  seriously  com- 
plained of  by  some  ? 

The  number  of  considerable  canals,  varying  in 
length  from  fourteen  to  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  miles,  was,  in  1835,  twenty-five.  Of  rail- 
roads, from  fifteen  to  a  hundred  and  thirty-twc 
miles  long,  there  were  fourteen.  The  cost  of  these 


198  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

canals  was  64,573,099  dollars.  The  cost  of 
these  rail-roads  was  nearly  thirty  millions  of 
dollars. 

The  Dutch  are  the  best  people  to  apply  to  for 
capital  when  any  canal  work  is  projected.  I  heard 
it  said  that  the  word  "  canal"  was  enough  for 
them. 

The  steam-boats  of  the  United  States  are  re- 
nowned, as  they  deserve  to  be.  There  is  no  oc- 
casion to  describe  their  size  and  beauty  here ;  but 
their  number  is  astonishing.  I  understand  that 
three  hundred  were  navigating  the  great  western 
rivers  some  time  ago :  and  the  number  is  probably 
much  increased. 

Among  so  many,  and  where  the  navigation  is  so 
dangerous  as  on  the  Mississippi,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  the  accidents  are  numerous.  I  was  rather 
surprised  at  the  cautions  I  received  throughout  the 
south  about  choosing  wisely  among  the  Mississippi 
steam-boats ;  and  at  the  question  gravely  asked,  as 
I  was  going  on  board,  whether  I  had  a  life-pre- 
server with  me.  I  found  that  all  my  acquaintance 
on  board  had  furnished  themselves  with  life-pre- 
servers ;  and  my  surprise  ceased  when  we  passed 
boat  after  boat  on  the  river,  delayed  or  deserted 
on  account  of  some  accident.  We  were  on  board 
the  "  Henry  Clay,"  a  noble  boat,  of  high  reputa- 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  199 

tion;  the  present  being  the  ninety-seventh  trip 
accomplished  without  accident.  Our  yawl  was 
snagged  one  day;  and  we  encountered  a  squall  and 
hail  storm,  one  night,  which  blew  both  the  pilots 
away  from  the  helm,  and  made  them  look  "  to  see 
the  hurricane  deck  blown  clear  off;"  but  no  mis- 
chief ensued. 

Notwithstanding  the  increase  of  steam-boats  in  the 
Mississippi,  flat  boats  are  still  much  in  use.  These  are 
large  boats,  of  rude  construction,  made  just  strong 
enough  to  hold  together,  and  keep  their  cargo  of 
flour,  or  other  articles,  dry,  from  some  high  point 
on  the  great  rivers,  to  New  Orleans.  They  are 
furnished  with  two  enormous  oars,  fixed  on  what 
is,  1  suppose,  called  their  deck ;  to  be  used  where 
the  current  is  sluggish,  or  when  it  is  desirable  to 
change  the  direction  of  the  boat.  The  cumbrous 
machine  is  propelled  by  the  stream ;  her  proprietors 
only  occasionally  helping  her  progress,  now  by 
pulling  at  the  branches  of  overhanging  trees,  now 
by  turning  her  into  the  more  rapid  of  two  currents. 
She  is  seen  sometimes  floating  down  the  very  mid- 
dle of  the  river;  sometimes  gliding  under  the 
banks.  At  noon,  a  bower  of  green  leaves  is 
waving  on  her  deck,  for  shade  to  her  masters ;  at 
night,  a  pine  brand  is  waved,  flaming,  to  give 
warning  to  the  steam-boats  not  to  run  her  down. 
The  voyage  from  the  upper  parts  of  the  Ohio  to 


200  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

New  Orleans,  is  thus  performed  in  from  three  to 
five  weeks.  The  cargo  being  disposed  of  at  New 
Orleans,  the  boat  is  broken  up,  and  the  materials 
sold ;  and  her  masters  work  their  way  home  again, 
as  deck  passengers  on  board  a  steam-boat,  by  bring- 
ing in  wood  at  all  the  wooding  places.  The 
"  Henry  Clay"  had  a  larger  company  of  this  kind 
of  passengers  than  the  captain  liked.  He  declar- 
ed that  the  deck  was  giving  way  under  their  num- 
ber. It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see  them  twice  a 
day, — very  early  in  the  morning,  and  about  sun- 
set,— pour  from  the  boat,  when  she  drew  under 
the  shore,  form  two  lines  between  the  boat  and 
the  wood  pile,  and  bring  in  their  loads.  Most  of 
them  were  tall  Kentuckians,  who  really  do  look 
unlike  all  other  people.  I  felt  a  strong  inclination 
for  a  flat-boat  voyage  down  the  vast  and  beautiful 
Mississippi ;  beautiful  with  islands  and  bluffs,  and 
the  eternal  forest ;  but  I  have  lost  the  opportunity. 
If  I  should  ever  visit  that  beloved  country  again, 
this  picturesque  kind  of  craft  will  have  disappear- 
ed, as  the  yet  more  barbarous  raft  is  now  disappear- 
ing ;  and  one  more  characteristic  feature  of  western 
scenery  will  be  effaced. 

It  seems  probable  that  there  will  be  a  more  ra- 
pid increase  of  ships  and  schooners  than  of  steam- 
boats on  the  northern  lakes.  These  lakes  are  so 
subject  to  gusts  and  storms  that  steam-boats  can- 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  201 

not  be  considered  safe,  and  ought  to  make  no  pro- 
mises of  punctuality.  The  captains  declare  their 
office  to  be  too  anxious  a  one.  A  squall  comes 
from  any  quarter,  without  notice ;  and  the  boat  no 
sooner  seems  to  be  proceeding  prosperously  on  her 
way,  than  she  has  to  run  in  somewhere  for  safety 
from  a  sudden  storm. 

Of  all  the  water-craft  I  ever  saw,  I  know  none 
so  graceful  as  the  sloops  on  the  Hudson ;  unless  it 
be  the  New  York  pilot-boats.  The  North-River 
sloops  are  an  altogether  peculiar  race  of  boats. 
They  are  low,  and  can  carry  a  great  press  of  sail, 
from  the  smoothness  of  the  water  on  which  they 
perform  their  voyages.  A  sloop  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  will  carry  a  mast  of  ninety  feet  high.  I 
could  watch  these  boats  on  the  Hudson,  a  whole 
summer  through  ;  moored  beside  a  pebbly  strand, 
in  a  recess  of  the  shore ;  or  lying  dark  in  a  trail 
of  glittering  sunshine ;  or  turning  the  whitest  of 
sails  to  the  sun,  startling  the  fish-hawk  with  the 
sudden  gleam,  so  that  he  quits  his  prey,  and  makes 
for  the  hanging  woods.  I  saw  their  graceful  forms 
disclosed  by  lightning,  while  I  was  watching,  from 
the  piazza  of  the  West  Point  Hotel,  the  progress  of 
a  tremendous  storm.  I  saw  them  as  suddenly  dis- 
closed at  another  time ;  and  still  more  strikingly. 
From  the  terrace  of  Pine  Orchard  House,  on  the 
summit  of  the  Catskill  Mountain,  I  watched,  one 

K  5 


202  TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS. 

July  morning,  at  four  o'clock,  the  breaking  of  the 
dawn  over  the  entire  valley  of  the  Hudson.  The 
difference  between  mountain,  forest,  and  meadow, 
first  appeared.  Then  the  grey  river  seemed  to 
grow  into  sight,  for  the  whole  length  of  its  wind- 
ings. It  was  twelve  miles  off,  and  looked  little  more 
than  a  thread.  The  sun  came  up,  like  a  golden 
star  resting  on  the  mountain-top ;  and,  on  the  in- 
stant, the  river  was  seen  to  be  peopled  with  these 
sloops.  Their  white  sails  came  in  one  instant  into 
view,  together  with  the  churches  in  the  hamlets, 
and  the  bright  gables  of  the  farm-houses  in  the 
meadows.  The  whole  scene  was  made  alive  by 
one  ray. 

There  will  be  no  want  of  markets  for  produce  of 
all  kinds,  in  the  United  States,  within  any  time  that 
can  be  foreseen.  If  slavery  were  to  be  abolished 
to-morrow,  and,  in  consequence,  more  corn  grown 
and  cattle  reared  in  the  slave  States,  the  demand 
for  both  from  the  north-western  States  would  still 
go  on  to  increase ;  so  vast  and  progressive  would 
be  the  improvement  in  the  south.  The  great  cities 
are  even  yet  ill  supplied  from  the  country.  Provi- 
sions .  are  very  dear ;  and  the  butcher's  meat 
throughout  the  country  is  far  inferior  to  what  it 
will  be  when  an  increased  amount  of  labour,  and 
means  of  transport,  shall  encourage  improvement  in 
the  pasturage  and  care  of  stock.  While,  as  we 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  203 

have  seen,  fowls,  butter,  and  eggs,  are  still  sent 
from  Vermont  into  Boston,  there  is  no  such  thing 
to  be  had  there  as  a  joint  of  tender  meat.  In  one 
house  at  Boston,  where  a  very  numerous  family 
lives  in  handsome  style,  and  where  I  several  times 
met  large  dinner  parties,  I  never  saw  an  ounce  of 
meat,  except  ham.  The  table  was  covered  with 
birds,  in  great  variety,  and  well  cooked ;  but  all 
winged  creatures.  The  only  tender,  juicy  meat  I 
saw  in  the  country,  was  a  sirloin  of  beef  at  Charles- 
ton, and  the  wfhole  provision  of  a  gentleman's  ta- 
ble in  Kentucky.  At  one  country  place,  there  was 
nothing  but  veal  on  the  table  for  a  month ;  in  a 
town  where  I  staid  ten  days,  nothing  was  to  be 
had  but  beef:  and  throughout  the  south  the  tra- 
veller meets  little  else  than  pork,  under  all  manner 
of  disguises,  and  fowls. 

Much  is  said  in  England  about  the  cheapness  of 
living  in  the  United  States,  without  its  being  un- 
derstood what  need  there  is  of  equalising,  (or  what 
appears  so  to  the  inhabitants  of  an  old  country,) 
by  means  of  markets.  In  places  where  beef  and 
veal  are  twopence  per  pound,  and  venison  a  penny, 
(English,)  tea  may  be  twenty  shillings  per  pound, 
and  gloves  seven  shillings  a  pair.  At  Charlottes- 
ville  University,  fowls  were  provided  to  the  pro- 
fessors' families  at  a  dollar  a  dozen.  In  the  towns 
of  Kentucky,  meat  is  fourpence  per  pound ;  in  the 
rural  parts  of  Pennsylvania  a  penny  or  twopence; 


204  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

and  butter  sixpence.  At  Ebensburg,  on  the  top  of 
the  Alleghanies,  we  staid  twenty-five  hours.  Two  of 
us  were  well  taken  care  of,  had  attendance,  good 
beds,  two  dinners  each,  supper,  breakfast,  and  a  sup- 
ply of  buns  to  carry  away  with  us ;  and  all  for  one 
dollar ;  the  dollar  at  that  time  being  four  shillings 
and  twopence  English.  The  next  week,  I  paid  six 
dollars  for  the  making  of  a  gown  at  Philadelphia ; 
and  all  the  ladies  of  a  country  town,  not  very  far 
off,  were  wearing  gloves  too  bad  to  be  mended,  or 
none  at  all,  because  none  had  come  up  by  the 
canal  for  many  weeks. 

At  Washington,  I  wanted  some  ribbon  for  my 
straw  bonnet ;  and,  in  the  whole  place,  in  the  sea- 
son, I  could  find  only  six  pieces  of  ribbon  to  choose 
from. 

Throughout  the  entire  country,  (out  of  the  ci- 
ties) I  was  struck  with  the  discomfort  of  broken 
windows  which  appeared  on  every  side.  Large 
farm-houses,  flourishing  in  every  other  respect,  had 
dismal-looking  windows.  I  was  possessed  with 
the  idea  that  the  business  of  a  travelling  glazier 
would  be  a  highly  profitable  one.  Persons  who 
happen  to  live  near  a  canal,  or  other  quiet  watery 
road,  have  baskets  of  glass  of  various  sizes  sent  to 
them  from  the  towns,  and  glaze  their  own  win- 
dows. But  there  is  no  bringing  glass  over  a  cor- 
duroy, or  mud,  or  rough  limestone  road ;  and  those 
who  have  no  other  highways  must  "  get  along" 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  205 

with  such  windows  as  it  may  please  the  weather 
and  the  children  to  leave  them. 

The  following  laconic  dialogue  shows,  not  un- 
fairly, even  if  it  be  a  mere  jest,  how  acceptable 
means  of  transport  would  be  to  western  settlers. 

"  Whose  land  was  this  that  you  bought  ?" 

"  Mogg's." 

"What's  the  soil?" 

"  Bogs." 

"  What's  the  climate?" 

«  Fogs." 

"  What  do  you  get  to  eat  ?" 

"  Hogs." 

"  What  did  you  build  your  house  of?" 

«  Logs/' 

"  Have  you  any  neighbours  ?" 

«  Frogs." 

There  are  only  two  methods  (besides  rare  ac- 
cidents) by  which  dwellers  in  such  places  can  get 
their  wants  supplied.  When  a  few  other  neigh- 
bours besides  frogs,  gather  round  the  settler,  some 
one  opens  a  grocery  store.  I  went  shopping  near 
the  Falls  of  Niagara ;  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  which  place,  there  is  a  store  on  the  borders 
of  the  forest.  I  saw  there  glass  and  bacon ;  stay- 
laces,  prints,  drugs,  rugs,  and  crockery;  bomba- 
zeens  and  tin  cans ;  books,  boots,  and  moist  su- 
gar, &c.  &c. 


206  TRANSPORT    AND    MARKETS. 

Pedlars  are  the  other  agents  of  supply.  It  has 
been  mentioned  how  bibles  and  other  books  are 
sold  by  youths  who  adopt  this  method  of  speedily 
raising  money.  The  Yankee  pedlars,  with  their 
wooden  clocks,  are  renowned.  One  of  these  gentry 
lately  retired  with  a  fortune  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  made  by  the  sale  of  wooden  clocks 
alone.  These  men  are  great  benefactors  to  so- 
ciety: for,  be  their  clocks  what  they  may,  they 
make  the  country  people  as  well  off  as  the  inhabit- 
ants of  towns,  in  the  matter  of  knowing  the  time ; 
and  what  more  would  they  have  ?  One  would  think 
there  was  no  sun  in  the  United  States,  so  very 
imaginative  are  most  of  the  population  in  respect 
of  the  hour.  Even  in  New  York  I  found  a 
wide  difference  between  the  upper  and  lower  parts 
of  the  city :  and  between  Canandaigua  and  Buffalo 
there  was  the  slight  variation  of  half  an  hour.  In 
some  parts  of  the  south,  we  were  at  the  mercy  of 
whatever  clock  the  last  pedlar  might  have  happen- 
ed to  bring,  for  the  appearance  of  meals :  but  it 
appeared  as  if  the  clocks  themselves  had  some- 
thing of  the  Yankee  spirit  in  them ;  for,  while  they 
were  usually  too  fast,  I  rarely  knew  one  too  slow. 

The  perplexity  about  time  took  a  curious  form 
in  one  instance,  in  the  south.  The  lady  of  the  go- 
vernor of  the  State  had  never  had  sufficient  energy 
to  learn  the  clock.  With  both  clock  and  watch  in 


TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS.  207 

the  house,  she  was  incessantly  sending  her  slave 
Venus,  (lazy,  ignorant,  awkward,  and  ugly,)  into  a 
neighbour's  house  to  ask  the  hour.  Three  times 
in  one  morning  did  Venus  loll  against  the  draw- 
ing-room door,  her  chin  in  her  hands,  drawling, 

"  What's  the  time  ?" 

"  Nine,  Venus." 

Venus  went  home,  and  told  her  mistress  it  was 
one.  Dinner  was  hastened ;  but  it  soon  appearing 
from  some  symptom  that  it  could  not  be  so  late, 
Venus  appeared  again,  with  her  chin  reposing  as 
before. 

"What's  the  time?" 

"  Between  ten  and  eleven,  Venus." 

Venus  carries  word  that  it  is  eight.     And  so  on. 

The  race  of  pedlars  will  decrease,  year  by  year. 
There  will  be  fewer  carts,  nicely  packed  with  boxes 
and  baskets.  There  will  be  fewer  youths  in  home- 
spun, with  grave  faces  and  somewhat  prim  deport- 
ment, in  well-laden  gigs.  There  will  be  fewer 
horsemen,  with  saddle-bags,  and  compact  wooden 
cases.  There  will  be  fewer  pedestrians,  with 
pouches  strung  before  and  behind,  an  umbrella  in 
one  hand,  and  an  open  book  in  the  other.  The 
same  men,  or  their  sons,  will  gain  in  fortune,  and 
lose  perhaps  somewhat  in  mind  and  manners,  by 
being  stationary,  or  the  frequenters  of  some  esta- 
blished market. 


208  TRANSPORT   AND    MARKETS. 

The  conveying  'of  vast  quantities  of  cotton  and 
other  produce  towards  the  southern  ports  is  already 
a  matter  of  pride  to  the  residents,  who  boast  that 
they  employ  the  industry  of  persons  a  thousand 
miles  off  to  provide  food  for  themselves  and  their 
dependents.  The  bustle  of  the  great  northern 
markets  is  also  very  striking  to  the  stranger  who 
sees  to  what  distance  in  the  interior,  the  produce 
of  Europe  and  Asia  is  to  be  conveyed.  But,  a  few 
years  hence,  the  spread  of  comfort  and  luxury  will 
be  as  great  as  that  of  industry  is  now.  By  a  vast 
augmentation  of  the  means  of  transport,  markets 
will  be  opened  wherever  the  soil  is  peculiarly  rich, 
the  mines  remarkably  productive,  or  the  locality 
especially  inviting. 

The  object  is  an  all-important  one.  As  it  is 
too  late  to  restrict  the  territory  on  which  the  Ame- 
rican people  are  dispersed,  it  is  most  serviceable 
that  they  should  be  brought  together  again,  for 
purposes  of  intercourse,  mutual  education  and  dis- 
cipline, and  wise  co-operation  in  the  work  of  self- 
government,  by  such  means  as  exist  for  practically 
annihilating  time  and  space.  The  certain  increase 
of  wealth  by  these  means  is  a  good.  The  certain 
increase  of  people  is  an  incalculably  greater.  The 
certain  increase  of  knowledge  and  civilisation  is 
the  greatest  of  all. 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  209 


SECTION  I. 

INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 

ONE  of  the  most  important  constitutional  ques- 
tions that  has  arisen  in  the  United  States  is  one, 
regarding  Internal  Improvements,  which  has  grown 
out  of  a  failure  of  foresight  in  the  makers  of  the 
constitution.  No  set  of  men  could  be  expected  to 
foresee  every  great  question  which  must  arise  dur- 
ing the  advancement  of  a  young  country ;  and  there 
is  no  evidence  of  its  having  occurred  to  any  one, 
in  the  early  days  of  the  republic,  to  inquire  whe- 
ther the  general  government  should  have  power  to 
institute  and  carry  on  public  works,  all  over  the 
States ;  and  under  what  limitations.  Many  incon- 
sistent and  contradictory  proceedings  have  taken 
place  in  Congress,  since  the  question  was  first 
raised  ;  and  it  remains  unsettled. 

For  some  years  after  the  Revolution,  the  trea- 
sury had  enough  to  do  to  pay  the  debts  of  the 
war,  and  defray  the  expenses  attendant  upon  the 
organisation  of  the  new  system.  As  soon  as  a 
surplus  was  found  to  be  in  hand,  suggestions  were 
heard  about  improving  the  country.  In  1796,  Mr. 
Madison  proposed  a  resolution  to  cause  a  survey 


210  INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 

to  be  made  for  a  road  from  north  to  south,  through 
all  the  Atlantic  States.  No  appropriation  was 
made  for  the  purpose :  but  no  objection  was  offered 
on  the  ground  of  the  general  government  not  hav- 
ing power  to  make  such  appropriation.  The  diffi- 
culty of  access  to  the  great  western  wilderness 
was  represented  to  Congress  under  Mr.  Jefferson's 
administration,  in  1802;  and  a  law  was  passed, 
making  appropriations  for  opening  roads  in  the 
north-west  territory.  This  was  the  first  appro- 
priation made  by  Congress  for  purposes  of  inter- 
nal improvement.  Many  similar  acts  followed ; 
and  road-making  and  surveying  the  coast  went  on 
expeditiously,  and  to  a  great  extent.  In  1807,  Mr. 
Gallatin  prepared  the  celebrated  Report  to  the 
Senate,  which  contains  a  systematic  plan  for  the 
improvement  of  the  whole  country.  In  1812,  dur- 
ing Mr.  Madison's  administration,  a  survey  was 
authorised  of  the  main  post  road  from  Maine  to 
Georgia.  Improvement  under  the  sanction  of 
Congress  went  on  with  increased  activity  into  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Monroe,  by  whom  the  first 
check  was  given.  Mr.  Monroe  vetoed  the  bill  au- 
thorising the  collection  of  tolls  for  the  repair  of 
the  Cumberland  road.  The  reason  assigned  for  the 
veto  was  that  it  was  one  thing  to  make  appropria- 
tions for  public  works,  and  another  thing  to  as- 
sume jurisdiction  and  sovereignty  over  the  soil  on 


INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENTS.  211 

which  such  works  were  erected;  and  President 
Monroe  did  not  believe  that  Congress  could  as- 
sume power  to  levy  toll.*  By  his  adoption  of  a 
subsequent  act,  involving  the  same  principles,  how- 
ever, it  seemed  that  he  had  changed  his  opinion,  or 
resolved  to  yield  the  question. 

Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams's  advocacy  of  internal  improve- 
ments removed  some  lingering  difficulties;  and, 
while  he  was  President,  the  public  works  were 
carried  on  with  great  activity.  The  southern  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  however,  were  generally  opposed 
to  the  exercise  of  this  power  by  the  general  go- 
vernment :  and  it  has  ever  since  been  a  strongly- 
debated  question. 

President  Jackson's  course  on  the  subject  has 
not  been  very  consistent.  Before  his  election,  he 
always  voted  for  internal  improvements,  going  so 
far  as  to  advocate  subscriptions  by  government  to 
the  stock  of  private  canal  companies,  and  the  for- 
mation of  roads  beginning  and  ending  within  the 
limits  of  particular  States.  In  his  message  at  the 
opening  of  the  first  Congress  after  his  accession, 
he  proposed  the  division  of  the  surplus  revenue 

*  President  Jackson  is  of  opinion  that  no  toll  should  be  levied 
en  ways  provided  by  the  public  revenue.  It  should  be  a  com- 
plete and  final  outlay,  and  none  of  the  people  compelled  to  pay 
for  works  effected  by  the  people's  money.  This  seems  clearly 

right. 


212  INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 

among  the  States,  as  a  substitute  for  the  promotion 
of  internal  improvements  by  the  general  govern- 
ment. He  attempted  a  limitation  and  distinction 
too  difficult  and  important  to  be  settled  and  acted 
upon  on  the  judgment  and  knowledge  of  one  man ; 
— a  distinction  between  general  and  local  objects. 
It  is  manifestly  impossible  to  draw  the  line  with 
any  precision.  The  whole  Union  is  benefited  by 
the  Erie  canal,  though  it  lies  wholly  within  the 
limits  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  a  thousand 
positions  of  circumstances  may  be  imagined  by 
which  local  advantages  may  become  general,  and 
general  local,  so  as  to  confound  the  limitation  alto- 
gether. At  any  rate,  the  judgment  and  knowledge 
of  any  individual,  or  any  cabinet,  are  obviously  un- 
equal to  the  maintenance  of  such  a  distinction. 

In  1829  and  1030,  the  President  advocated  such 
an  amendment  of  the  constitution  as  would  au- 
thorise Congress  to  apply  the  surplus  revenue  to 
certain  specified  objects,  involving  the  general 
good;  and  he  strongly  objected  to  the  general 
government  exercising  a  power,  considered  by  him 
unconstitutional,  merely  because  there  was  a  quan- 
tity of  money  in  the  treasury  which  must  be  dis- 
posed of.  He  has  since  changed  his  opinion,  and 
believes  that  less  evil  would  be  incurred  by  even 
suddenly  reducing  the  revenue  to  the  amount  of 
the  wants  of  the  government,  than  by  conferring 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  213 

on  the  general  government  immense  means  of  pa- 
tronage, and  opportunity  for  corrupt  and  wasteful 
expenditure. 

These  changes  of  opinion  in  President  Jackson 
prove  nothing  so  clearly  as  the  great  difficulty  of 
the  subject.  It  is,  however,  so  pressing  and  so 
important  that,  notwithstanding  its  difficulty,  it 
must  be  settled  before  long. 

The  opposing  arguments  seem  to  me  to  be 
these. 

The  advocates  of  a  concession  to  Congress  of 
the  power  of  conducting  internal  improvements 
plead,  with  regard  to  the  constitutionality  of  the 
power,  that  it  is  conferred  by  the  clauses  which 
authorise  Congress  to  make  post-roads :  to  regulate 
commerce  between  the  States :  to  make  and  carry 
on  war ;  (and  therefore  to  have  roads  by  which  to 
transport  troops ;)  to  lay  taxes,  to  pay  the  debts, 
and  provide  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States :  and  to  pass  all  laws  necessary  to  carry  into 
effect  its  constitutional  powers. 

The  answer  is,  that  to  derive  from  these  clauses 
any  countenance  of  the  practice  of  spending  with- 
out limit  the  public  funds,  for  objects  which  any 
present  government  may  declare  to  be  for  the  ge- 
neral welfare,  is  an  obvious  straining  of  the  instru- 
ment :  that,  by  such  methods,  the  constitution  may 
be  made  to  authorise  the  spending  of  any  amount 


214  INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 

whatever,  for  any  purpose  whatever  :  that  it  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  constitution  to  specify  the 
powers  given  to  Congress  with  a  nicety  which  is 
wholly  inconsistent  with  such  a  boundless  convey- 
ance of  power  as  is  here  presumed:  and  that, 
accordingly,  the  permission  to  lay  taxes,  to  pay  the 
debts,  and  provide  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States,  is  limited  as  to  its  objects  by  the 
preceding  specifications :  and  that,  finally,  the 
powers  allotted  to  the  State  governments  exclude 
the  supposition  that  Congress  is  authorised  to  as- 
sume such  territorial  jurisdiction  as  it  has  been 
allowed  to  practise  within  the  limits  of  the  several 
States. 

This  last  set  of  opinions  appears  to  disinterested 
observers  so  obviously  reasonable,  that  the  wonder 
is  how  so  weak  a  stand  on  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution  can  have  been  maintained  for  any 
length  of  time.  The  reason  is,  that  the  pleas  of 
expediency  are  so  strong  as  to  counterbalance  the 
weakness  of  the  constitutional  argument.  But, 
this  being  the  case,  the  truly  honest  and  patriotic 
mode  of  proceeding  would  be  to  add  to  the  consti- 
tution by  the  means  therein  provided ;  instead  of 
straining  the  instrument  to  accomplish  an  object 
which  was  not  present  to  the  minds  of  its  framers. 

The  pleas  of  the  advocates  of  Internal  Improve- 
ments are  these  :  that  very  extensive  public  works, 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  215 

designed  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  Union,  and 
carried  through  vast  portions  of  its  area,  must  be 
accomplished :  that  an  object  so  essential  ought 
not  to  be  left  at  the  mercy  of  such  an  accident  as 
the  cordial  agreement  of  the  requisite  number  of 
States,  to  carry  such  works  forward  to  their  com- 
pletion ;  that  the  surplus  funds  accruing  from  the 
whole  nation  cannot  be  so  well  employed  as  in 
promoting  works  by  which  the  whole  nation  will 
be  benefited :  and  that,  as  the  interests  of  the  ma- 
jority have  hitherto  upheld  Congress  in  the  use  of 
this  power,  it  may  be  assumed  to  be  the  will  of  the 
majority  that  Congress  should  continue  to  exer- 
cise it. 

The  answer  is,  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  put  a 
vast  and  increasing  patronage  into  the  hands  of  the 
general  government :  that  only  a  very  superficial 
knowledge  can  be  looked  for  in  members  of  Con- 
gress as  to  the  necessity  or  value  of  works  pro- 
posed to  be  instituted  in  any  parts  of  the  States 
but  those  in  which  they  are  respectively  interested : 
that  endless  jealousies  would  arise  between  the 
various  States,*  from  the  impossibility  or  unde- 

*  South  Carolina  was  in  favour  of  Internal  Improvements,  till 
it  was  found  bow  much  larger  a  share  of  the  benefit  would  be  ap- 
propriated by  the  active  and  prosperous  northern  States  than  by 
those  which  are  depressed  by  slavery.  Since  that  discovery, 
South  Carolina's  sectional  jealousy  has  been  unbounded,  and  her 


216  INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS. 

sirableness  of  equalising  the  amount  of  appropria- 
tion made  to  each :  that  useless  works  would  be 
proposed  from  the  spirit  of  competition,  or  indi- 
vidual interest :  *  and  that  corruption,  co-extensive 
with  the  increase  of  power,  would  deprave  the 
functions  of  the  general  government 

There  is  much  truth  on  both  sides  here.  In  the 
first  set  of  pleas  there  is  so  much  force  that  they 
have  ceased  to  be,  what  they  were  once  supposed, 
the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  federal  party.  Mr. 
Webster  is  still  considered  the  head  of  the  Internal 
Improvements  party ;  and  Mr.  Calhoun  was  for 
some  time  the  leader  of  its  opponents.  Jefferson's 
latest  opinions  were  strong  against  the  power 
claimed  and  exercised  by  Congress.  Yet  large 
numbers  of  the  democratic  party  are  as  strenuous 


opposition  to  the  exercise  of  the  power  very  fierce.  In  her  pe- 
riodical publications,  as  well  as  through  other  channels,  she  has 
declared  herself  neglected,  or  likely  to  be  neglected,  on  account  of 
her  being  southern.  The  enterprise  of  the  North  and  depression 
of  the  South  are,  as  usual,  looked  upon  as  favour  and  neglect, 
shown  by  the  general  government. 

*  When  I  was  ascending  the  Mississippi,  I  observed  a  light- 
house perched  on  a  bluff,  in  a  ridiculous  situation.  On  asking 
the  meaning  of  the  phenomenon,  I  was  told  that  a  senator  from 
the  State  of  Mississippi,  wishing  to  make  a  flourish  about  his  zeal 
for  the  improvement  of  his  State,  had  obtained  an  appropriation 
from  Congress  to  build  this  light-house,  which  is  of  no  earthly 
use. 


INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS.  217 

for  internal  improvements  as  Adams  and  Webster 
themselves;  the  interests  of  the  majority  being 
clearly  on  that  side. 

To  an  impartial  observer  it  appears  that  Con- 
gress has  no  constitutional  right  to  devote  the 
public  funds  to  internal  improvements,  at  its  own 
unrestricted  will  and  pleasure :  that  the  permitted 
usurpation  of  the  power  for  so  long  a  time  indi- 
cates that  some  degree  of  such  power  in  the  hands 
of  the  general  government  is  desirable  and  neces- 
sary :  that  such  power  should  be  granted  through 
an  amendment  of  the  constitution,  by  the  methods 
therein  provided :  that,  in  the  mean  time,  it  is 
perilous  that  the  instrument  should  be  strained  for 
the  support  of  any  function,  however  desirable  its 
exercise  may  be. 

In  case  of  the  proposed  addition  being  made  to 
the  constitution,  arrangements  will,  of  course,  be 
entered  into  for  determining  the  principles  by 
which  general  are  to  be  distinguished  from  local 
objects,  or  whether  such  distinction  can,  on  any 
principle,  be  fixed ;  for  testing  the  utility  of  pro- 
posed objects ;  for  checking  extravagant  expen- 
diture, jobbing,  and  corrupt  patronage :  in  short, 
the  powers  of  Congress  will  be  specified,  here,  as 
in  other  matters,  by  express  permission  and  pro- 
hibition. These  details,  difficult  or  unmanageable 
amidst  the  questionable  exercise  of  a  great  power, 

VOL.    II.  L 


218  INTERNAL    IMPROVEiMENTS. 

will,  doubtless,  be  arranged  so  as  to  work  with 
precision,  when  the  will  of  the  majority  is  brought 
to  bear  directly  upon  them. 

It  is  time  that  this  great  question  should  be  set- 
tled. Congress  goes  on  making  appropriations  for 
a  road  here,  a  canal  there,  a  harbour  or  a  light- 
house somewhere  else.  All  these  may  or  may  not 
be  necessary.  Meantime,  those  who  have  law  on 
their  side,  exclaim  against  extravagance,  jobbing, 
and  encroachment  on  popular  rights.  Those  who 
have  expediency  on  their  side  plead  necessity,  the 
popular  will,  and  the  increasing  surplus  revenue. 

If  the  constitution  provides  means  by  which  law, 
expediency,  and  the  prevention  of  abuse,  can  be 
reconciled  to  the  satisfaction  of  all,  surely  the 
sooner  it  is  done  the  better.  Thus  the  matter  ap- 
pears to  a  passing  stranger. 


219 


CHAPTER  III. 
MANUFACTURES. 


"  The  crude  treasures,  perpetually  exposed  before  our  eyes, 
contain  within  them  other  and  more  valuable  principles.  All 
these,  likewise,  in  their  numberless  combinations,  which  ages  of 
labour  and  research  can  never  exhaust,  may  be  destined  to  fur- 
nish, in  perpetual  succession,  new  sources  of  our  wealth  and  of 
our  happiness." 

BADBAGE. 


THE  whole  American  people  suffered,  during  the 
revolutionary  war,  from  the  want  of  the  comforts 
and  some  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  now  so  called. 
Their  commerce  with  the  world  abroad  being  al- 
most wholly  intercepted,  they  had  nothing  where- 
with to  console  themselves  but  the  stocks  which 
might  be  left  in  their  warehouses,  and  the  produce 
of  their  soil.  It  is  amazing,  at  this  day,  to  hear  of 
the  wants  of  the  commonest  articles  of  clothing 

L  2 


220  MANUFACTURES. 

and  domestic  use,  undergone  in  those  days  by  some 
of  the  first  families  in  the  republic. 

The  experience  of  these  troubles  suggested  to 
many  persons  the  expediency  of  establishing  manu- 
factures in  the  United  States :  but  there  was  an 
almost  universal  prejudice  against  this  mode  of  em- 
ployment. It  is  amusing  now  to  read  Hamilton's 
celebrated  Report  on  Manufactures,  presented  in 
1790,  and  to  see  how  elaborately  the  popular 
objections  to  manufactures  are  answered.  The 
persuasion  of  the  nation  was  that  America  was 
designed  to  be  an  agricultural  country ;  that  agri- 
culture was  wholly  productive,  and  manufactures 
not  productive  at  all ;  and  that  agriculture  was  the 
more  honourable  occupation.  The  two  former 
prejudices  have  been  put  to  flight  by  happy  expe- 
rience. The  last  still  lingers.  It  is  not  five  years 
since  the  President's  message  declared  that  "  the 
wealth  and  strength  of  a  country  are  its  population ; 
and  the  best  part  of  that  population  are  the  culti- 
vators of  the  soil." 

Such  prepossessions  may  be  left  to  die  out. 
They  arise  mainly  from  a  very  good  notion,  not 
very  clearly  defined; — that  the  more  intercourse 
men  have  with  Nature,  the  better  for  the  men. 
This  is  true ;  but  Nature  is  present  in  all  places 
where  the  hands  of  men  work,  if  the  workmen  can 
but  see  her.  If  Nature  is  supposed  present  only 


MANUFACTURES.  221 

where  there  is  a  blue  sky  overhead,  and  grass  and 
trees  around,  this  shows  only  the  narrowness  of 
mind  of  him  who  thus  supposes.     Her  forces  are 
at  work  wherever  there  is  mechanism;  and  man 
only  directs  them  to  his  particular  purpose.     In 
America,  it  may  be  said  that  her  beauty  is  present 
wherever  her  forces  are  at  work;   for  men  have 
there   set   up   their   mechanism   in   some   of  the 
choicest  spots  in  the  land.     There  is  a  good  and 
an  evil  aspect  belonging  to  all  things.     If  tourists 
are  exasperated  at  fine  scenery  being  deformed  by 
the  erection  of  mills,  (which  in  many  instances  are 
more  of  an  ornament  than  a  deformity,)  let  others 
be  awake  to  the  advantage  that  it  is  to  the  work- 
people to  have  their  dwellings  and  their  occupation 
fixed  in  spots  where  the  hills  are  heaped  together, 
and  the  waters  leap  and  whirl  among  rocks,  rather 
than  in  dull  suburbs  where  they  and  their  employ- 
ments may  not  annoy  the  eye  of  the  lover  of  the 
picturesque.      It  always  gave  me  pleasure  to  see 
the  artisans  at  work  about  such  places  as  Glen's 
Falls,  the  Falls  of  the  Genessee,  and  on  the  banks 
of  some  of  the  whirling  streams  in  the  New  Eng- 
land valleys.      I  felt  that  they  caught,   or  might 
catch,  as  beautiful  glimpses  of  Nature's  face  as  the 
western    settler.      If  the   internal    circumstances 
were  favourable,  there  was  little  in  the  outward  to 
choose  between.      If  they  had  the   open    mind's 


222  MANUFACTURES. 

eye  to  see  beauty,  and  the  soul  to  feel  wonder,  it 
mattered  little  whether  it  was  the  forest  or  the 
waterfall  (even  though  it  were  called  the  "  water- 
privilege")  that  they  had  to  look  upon;  whether 
it  was  by  the  agency  of  vegetation  or  of  steam  that 
they  had  to  work.  It  is  deplorable  enough,  in  this 
view,  to  be  a  poor  artisan  in  the  heart  of  our 
English  Manchester :  but .  to  be  a  thriving  one  in 
the  most  beautiful  outskirts  of  Sheffield  is,  perhaps, 
as  favourable  a  lot  for  the  lover  of  nature  as  to  be 
a  labourer  on  any  soil :  and  the  privileges  of  the 
American  artisans  are  like  this. 

As  to  the  old  objection  to  American  manufac- 
tures, that  America  was  designed  to  be  an  agricul- 
tural country, — it  seems  to  me,  as  I  said  before, 
that  America  was  meant  to  be  everything.  Her 
group  of  republics  is  merged  in  one,  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world ;  and,  for  some  purposes,  in  reality :  but 
this  involves  no  obligation  to  make  them  all  alike 
in  their  produce  and  occupations ;  but  rather  the 
contrary.  Here,  as  everywhere  else,  let  the  laws 
of  nature  be  followed,  and  the  procedure  will  be 
wise.  Nature  has  nothing  to  do  with  artificial 
boundaries  and  arbitrary  inclosures.  There  are 
many  soils  and  many  climates  included  within  the 
boundary  line  of  the  United  States ;  many  coun- 
tries ;  and  one  rule  cannot  be  laid  down  for  all. 
If  there  be  any  one  or  more  of  these  where  the  re- 


MANUFACTURES.  223 

quisites  for  manufactures  are  present,  and  those 
for  agriculture  deficient,  there  let  manufactures 
arise.  If  there  is  poor  land,  and  good  mill-seats ; 
abundant  material,  animal  and  mineral,  on  the 
spot,  and  vegetable  easily  to  be  procured ;  a  suffi- 
ciency of  hands,  and  talent  for  the  construction 
and  use  of  machinery,  there  should  manufactures 
spring  up.  This  is  eminently  the  case  with  New 
England,  and  some  other  parts  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  perceived  to  be  so,  even  in  the 
days  when  the  growth  of  cotton  in  the  south  was 
spoken  of  as  a  small  experiment,  not  likely  to  pro- 
duce great  consequences. 

New  England  formerly  depended  chiefly  on  the 
carrying  trade.  When  that  resource  was  diminished, 
after  the  war,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  her  people 
were  to  be  prevented  setting  up  manufactures,  or 
why  they  needed  any  particular  exhortation  or 
assistance  to  do  it.  They  had  the  opportunity  of 
obtaining  foreign  capital ;  their  previous  foreign  in- 
tercourses having  pointed  out  to  them  where  it  had 
accumulated,  and  might  therefore  be  obtained  with 
advantage.  They  had  a  vast  material,  left  from 
their  fisheries,  of  skins,  oil,  and  the  bones  of  marine 
animals ;  they  had  bark,  hides,  wood,  flax,  hemp, 
iron,  and  clay.  They  had  also  the  requisite  skill ; 
as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  list  of  domestic 
manufactures,  carried  on  in  private  houses,  only,  in 


224  MANUFACTURES. 

1 790.  "  Great  quantities  of  coarse  cloths,  coatings, 
serges  and  flannels,  linsey-woolseys,  hosiery  of 
wool,  cotton,  and  thread,  coarse  fustians,  jeans,  and 
muslins,  coverlets  and  counterpanes,  tow  linens, 
coarse  shirtings,  sheetings,  towellings,  and  table- 
linen,  and  various  mixtures  of  wool  and  cotton,  and 
of  cotton  and  flax,  are  made  in  the  household  way ; 
and,  in  many  instances,  to  an  extent  not  only  suf- 
ficient for  the  supply  of  the  family  in  which  they 
are  made,  but  for  sale,  and  even  in  some  cases  for 
exportation.  It  is  computed,  in  a  number  of  dis- 
tricts, that  two-thirds,  three-fourths,  and  even  four- 
fifths  of  all  the  clothing  of  the  inhabitants,  are  made 
by  themselves."*  If  all  this  was  done  without  the 
advantage  of  division  of  labour,  of  masses  of  capital, 
or  of  other  machinery  than  might  be  set  up  in  a  farm- 
house parlour,  it  is  clear  that  this  region  was  fully 
prepared,  five-and-forty  years  ago,  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  manufactures  on  a  large  scale;  and  there 
appears  every  reason  to  believe  that  they  might 
have  been  left  to  their  natural  growth. 

The  same  Report  mentions  seventeen  classes  of 
manufacture  going  on  as  distinct  trades,  at  the  same 
time,  in  the  northern  States. 

The  only  plausible  objection  to  the  establish- 
ment of  manufactures  was  the  scarcity  and  dearness 

*  Hamilton's  Report  on  Manufactures.     1790. 


MANUFACTURES.  225 

of  labour,  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  old  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  But,  if  the  exportation  of  some 
articles  actually  took  place,  while  the  labour  which 
produced  them  was  scattered  about  in  farm-houses, 
what  might  not  be  expected  if  the  same  labour 
could  be  called  forth  and  concentrated,  and  aided 
by  the  introduction  of  machinery?  A  great  immi- 
gration of  artisans  might  also  be  looked  for,  when 
once  any  temptation  was  held  out  to  the  poor  of 
Europe  to  come  over  to  a  young  and  thriving  coun- 
try. Moreover,  improvements  in  machinery  are  the 
invariable  consequence  of  a  deficiency  of  manufac- 
turing labour;  for  the  obvious  reason  that  men's 
wits  are  urged  to  supply  the  want  under  which 
their  interests  suffer.  Again  :  manufactures  can, 
to  a  considerable  degree,  be  carried  on  by  the  la- 
bour of  women;  and  there  is  a  great  number  of 
unemployed  women  in  New  England,  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  young  men  of  that  region  wan- 
der away  in  search  of  a  settlement  on  the  land ; 
and,  after  being  settled,  find  wives  in  the  south  and 
west. 

Thus  much  of  the  case  might  have  been,  and 
was  by  some,  foreseen.  What  has  been  the  event  ? 

In  1825,  the  amount  of  manufactures  exported 
from  the  United  States,  was  5,729,797  dollars.  Of 
these  about  one-fourth  were  cotton-piece  goods,  in 
the  sale  of  which  the  American  merchants  were 


•226  MANUFACTURES. 

now  able  to  compete  with  the  English,  in  some 
foreign  markets.  The  manufacture  of  cottons  in 
the  United  States  afforded  a  market  for  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  thousand  bales  of  cotton  an- 
nually; and  the  printed  cottons  manufactured  at 
home  amounted  annually  to  fourteen  millions  of 
yards.  The  importation  of  cotton  goods  into  the 
country  in  1825  was  in  value  between  twelve  and 
thirteen  millions  of  dollars ;  and  in  1826,  between 
nine  and  ten  millions.  The  woollen  manufacture 
has  never  flourished  like  the  cotton ;  the  bad  effects 
of  the  tariff  being  more  immediately  visible  in  re- 
gard to  articles  of  manufacture  whose  raw  material 
must  be  chiefly  derived  from  abroad. 

In  1828,  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  passed 
resolutions  deploring  the  increasing  depression  of 
the  woollen  manufacture,  and  praying  for  increased 
protection  from  Congress.  The  exportation  of  cot- 
ton goods  that  year  amounted  to  upwards  of  a  mil- 
lion of  dollars ;  and  the  next  year  to  nearly  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half.  The  importation  of  cotton  goods 
was  all  but  prohibited  by  the  tariff  of  1824:  and 
the  consequence  was  an  immense  investment  of 
capital  in  the  cotton  manufacture,  almost  on  the 
instant;  and  some  perilous  fluctuations  since,  too 
nearly  resembling  the  agitations  of  older  countries, 
where  the  pernicious  policy  of  ages  has  accumulated 
difficulties  on  the  present  generation. 


MANUFACTURES.  227 

At  Lowell,  in  Massachusetts,  there  was  in  1818, 
a  small  satinet  mill,  employing  about  twenty  hands; 
the  place  itself  containing  two  hundred  inhabitants. 
In  1825,  the  Merrimack  Manufacturing  Company 
was  formed ;  it  was  joined  by  others  ;  and  in  1832, 
the  capital  invested  was  above  six  millions  of  dollars. 
The  whole  number  of  operatives  employed  was  five 
thousand ;  of  whom  three  thousand  eight  hundred 
were  women  and  girls.  The  quantity  of  raw  cotton 
used  was  upwards  of  twenty  thousand  bales.  The 
quantity  of  pure  cotton  goods  manufactured  was 
twenty-five  millions  of  yards.  The  woollen  fabric 
manufactured  in  these  establishments  was,  at 
the  same  time,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
yards.  Sixty-eight  carpet-looms  were  at  work 
also.  The  workmen  employed  in  all  these  ope- 
rations received  for  wages  about  1,200,000  dollars 
per  annum.  About  two  hundred  mechanics,  of 
a  high  order  of  ability,  are  constantly  employed. 
The  fuel  consumed  in  a  year  is  five  thousand 
tons  of  anthracite  coal,  besides  charcoal  and 
wood. 

The  same  protective  system  which  caused  the 
sudden  growth  of  such  an  establishment  as  this, 
tempted  numerous  capitalists  to  seek  their  share  of 
the  supposed  benefits  of  the  tariff.  The  manufac- 
turing interest  was  well  nigh  ruined  by  the  protec- 
tion it  had  asked  for.  The  competition  and  conse- 


2*28  MANUFACTURES, 

quent  over-manufacture  were  tremendous.  Failure 
after  failure  took  place,  till  forty-five  thousand 
spindles  were  standing  idle,  and  thousands  of  ope- 
ratives were  thrown  into  a  state  of  poverty  unnatu- 
ral enough  in  such  a  country  as  theirs.  A  cry  was 
raised  by  many  for  a  repeal  of  the  tariff:  this  created 
a  panic  among  those  who,  on  the  strength  of  the 
tariff,  had  withdrawn  their  capital  from  commerce, 
and  invested  it  in  manufactures.  The  stock  of  all 
the  manufacturing  companies  was  offered  in  vain, 
at  prices  ruinously  low.  Thus  stood  matters  in 
1829. 

The  history  of  the  quarrel  between  the  north  and 
south  about  the  tariff,  and  the  nature  of  the  Com- 
promise Bill,  is  already  known.  The  mischief  done 
will  be  repaired,  as  far  as  reparation  is  possible,  by 
the  reduction  of  the  import  duties,  year  by  year, 
till  1842.  If  the  demands  of  the  country  and  of 
foreign  customers  should  not  rise  to  the  limit  of  the 
over-manufacture  which  has  taken  place,  time  is 
thus  allowed  for  the  gradual  withdrawing  of  the 
capital  and  industry  which  have  been  seduced  into 
this  method  of  employment.  Meantime,  the  manu- 
factures of  the  northern  States  are  permanently 
established,  though  not  in  the  wisest  way.  If  they 
had  been  left  to  themselves,  they  would  have  been 
an  unmixed  good  to  the  community.  As  it  is,  society 
has  suffered  the  inevitable  consequences  of  an  irra- 


MANUFACTURES.  229 

tional  policy, — a  policy  indefensible  in  a  republic. 
It  is  well  that  the  experiment  wrought  out  its  con- 
sequences so  speedily  and  so  plainly  that  any  repe- 
tition is  unlikely, — little  as  the  natural  laws  which 
regulate  commerce  are  yet  understood. 

In  1831,  the  total  number  of  looms  employed  in 
the  cotton  manufacture  of  the  United  States  was 
33,433.  Of  these,  21,336  were  in  New  Eng- 
land; 3, 653  in  New  York  State;  6,301  in  Penn- 
sylvania; and  the  rest  in  Maryland,  Delaware, 
New  Jersey,  and  Virginia. 

Next  to  the  cotton  and  woollen  manufactures, 
the  most  valuable  are  manufactures  from  flax  and 
hemp ;  from  tobacco  and  grain ;  sugar,  soap,  and 
candles,  gunpowder,  gold  and  silver  coin,  iron,  cop- 
per and  brass,  hats,  medicinal  drugs,  and  shoes. 

The  shoe  manufacture  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able in  the  States,  from  the  suddenness  and  extent 
of  its  spread.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  shoe 
trade  of  New  York  State  is  more  valuable  than  the 
total  commerce  of  Georgia.  The  extent  to  which 
the  manufacture  is  carried  on  in  one  village  in 
Massachusetts,  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  shows 
the  prosperity  of  the  business. 

In  order  to  shoemaking,  there  must  be  tanning. 
There  are  many  and  large  tanneries  in  Danversand 
the  outskirts  of  Salem,  for. the  supply  of  the  Lynn 


230  MANUFACTURES. 

shoe-manufacture.  The  largest  tannery  in  the 
United  States  is  at  Salem.  The  hides  are  partly 
imported.  The  bark  is  brought  from  Maine.  These 
tanneries  were  in  a  state  of  temporary  adversity 
when  I  saw  them.  Some  kinds  of  skins  are  two 
or  three  years  in  tanning;  and  capital  is  thus  locked 
up  in  such  amounts  as  render  fluctuation  danger- 
ous. It  had  lately  been  discovered  that  oak  bark 
could  be  had  cheaper,  and  tanning  consequently 
carried  on  to  a  greater  advantage  up  the  Hudson 
than  on  the  Massachusetts  coast :  so  that  the  tan- 
ners and  curriers  of  Salem  and  Danvers  were  de- 
scending somewhat  from  their  high  prosperity.  But 
nothing  could  exceed  the  flourishing  aspect  of  Lynn, 
the  sanctum  of  St.  Crispin. 

In  1831,  the  value  of  boots  and  shoes,  (very  few 
boots,  and  chiefly  ladies'  shoes,)  made  at  Lynn  was 
nearly  a  million  of  dollars  a  year.  The  total 
number  made  was  above  a  million  and  a  half  pairs  : 
the  number  of  people  employed,  three  thousand  five 
hundred ;  being  about  seven-eighths  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  place,  partially  employed ;  and  some 
hundreds  from  other  places,  wholly  employed.  Last 
year,  the  place  was  much  on  the  increase.  A  green, 
with  a  piece  of  water  in  the  middle,  and  trees,  was 
being  laid  out  in  the  centre  of  the  town.  New 
houses  were  rising  in  all  directions,  and  fresh  hands 


THE    TARIFF.  231 

were  welcomed  from  any  quarter ;  for  the  orders 
sent  could  not  be  executed.  Besides  the  domestic 
supply,  two  million  pairs  of  ladies'  shoes  a-year 
were  sent  off  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  States  ; 
and,  as  they  have  once  penetrated  there,  it  seems 
difficult  to  imagine  where  the  demand  will  stop  ;  for 
those  remote  corners  are  all  being  more  thickly 
peopled  every  day.  Their  united  demand  will  be 
enough  to  make  the  fortune  of  a  whole  State. 

It  seems  probable  that  a  few  more  manufactures 
may  be  added  to  those  which  are  sure  to  flourish  in 
the  United  States :  as  silk  and  wine.  If  the  go- 
vernment firmly  refuses  to  interfere  again  in  the  way 
of  protection,  it  will  be  easily  and  safely  discoverable 
what  resources  the  country  really  possesses ;  and 
what  direction  her  improving  industry  may  natu- 
rally and  profitably  take. 


SECTION    I. 


THE   TARIFF. 


IF  I  were  to  go  into  anything  like  a  detailed  ac- 
count of  what  I  heard  about  the  tariff,  during  my 


232  THE    TARIFF. 

travels,  no  room  would  be  left  for  more  interesting 
affairs.  The  recrimination  on  the  subject  is  end- 
less. With  all  this  we  have  nothing  to  do,  now  that 
it  is  over.  The  philosophy  and  fact  of  the  transac- 
tion, and  not  the  changes  of  opinion  and  inconsis- 
tency of  conduct  of  public  men,  are  now  of  import- 
ance. It  would  be  well  now  to  leave  the  persons, 
and  look  at  the  thing. 

Almost  the  only  fact  in  relation  to  the  tariff  that 
I  never  heard  disputed  is  that  it  was,  under  one 
aspect,  a  measure  of  retaliation.  Rendering  evil  for 
evil  answers  no  better  in  economical  than  in  mo- 
ral affairs ;  even  if  it  take  the  name  of  self-de- 
fence. Because  the  British  are  foolish  and  wrong 
in  refusing  to  admit  American  corn,  the  Americans 
excluded  British  cottons  and  woollens.  More  was 
said,  and  I  believe  sincerely,  about  self-defence  than 
about  retaliation :  but  it  is  very  remarkable  that 
men  so  clear-headed,  inquiring,  and  sagacious  as 
the  authors  of  the  American  system,  should  not  have 
seen  further  into  the  condition  of  their  own  country, 
and  learned  more  from  the  unhappy  experience  of 
Europe,  than  to  imagine  that  they  could  neutralise 
the  effects  of  the  bad  policy  of  England  by  adopt- 
ing the  same  bad  policy  themselves.  It  is  strange 
that  they  did  not  see  that  if  British  cottons  and 
woollens  found  easy  entrance  into  their  country,  it 
must  have  been  in  exchange  for  something,  though 


THE    TARIFF.  233 

that  something  was  not  corn.  It  was  strange  that 
they  did  not  see  that  if  the  apparent  facilities  for 
manufactures  in  the  northern  States  were  really 
great  enough  to  justify  manufactures,  individual 
enterprise  would  be  sure  to  find  it  out ;  and  all  the 
more  readily  for  the  deficiency  in  the  resources  of 
New  England,  which  is  assigned  as  the  reason  for 
offering  her  legislative  protection.  There  was  not 
even  the  excuse  for  interference  which  exists  in 
old  countries;  that  by  intricate  complexities  of 
mismanagement,  economical  affairs  have  been 
perverted  from  their  natural  course.  Here,  in 
America,  a  new  branch  of  industry  was  to  be  in- 
stituted. The  skill  was  ready;  the  material  was 
ready ;  the  capital  was  procurable,  if  the  object  was 
good ;  and  ought  not  to  be,  if  the  object  was  un- 
sound. The  interests  of  the  people  might  have 
been  trusted  in  their  own  hands.  They  would  of 
themselves  have  taken  less  of  British  cotton  goods, 
and  more  of  something  else  which  they  could  not 
get  at  home,  if  cotton  goods  could  be  made  better 
and  cheaper  at  home  than  in  England ;  which  it  is 
proved  that,  for  the  most  part,  they  can  be.  It  is 
anticipated  that  when  the  Compromise  method  ex- 
pires, the  home  manufacture  of  some  kinds  of  fine 
cotton  goods  will  diminish ;  but  that  the  bulk  of  the 
manufacture  is  beyond  the  reach  of  accident.  The 
effect  of  the  tariff  has  been  to  over-stimulate  a  na- 


234  THE    TARIFF. 

tural  process,  and  thus  to  cause  over-manufacture, 
panic,  and  ruin  to  many.  It  is  said,  and  with  truth, 
that  America  can  afford  to  try  experiments ;  that 
America  is  the  very  country  that  should  learn  by 
experience;  and  so  forth.  But  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  those  who  suffer  are  not  always 
those  who  should  be  the  learners.  In  New  Eng- 
land, there  is  a  large  class  of  very  poor  women, — 
ladies ;  some  working ;  some  unable  to  work.  I 
knew  many  of  these ;  and  was  struck  with  the  great 
number  of  them  who  assigned  as  the  cause  of  their 
poverty  the  depreciation  of  factory  stock,  or  the 
failure  in  other  ways  of  factory  schemes,  in  which 
their  parents  or  other  friends  had,  beguiled  by  the 
promises  of  the  tariff,  invested  what  should  have 
been  their  maintenance. 

No  more  need  be  said  on  the  policy  of  the  tariff. 
The  truth  is  now  very  extensively  acknowledged ; 
and  though  some  of  those  who  are  answerable  for 
the  American  system  continue  to  assume  that  ma- 
nufactures could  not  have  been  instituted  without 
its  assistance,  I  believe  it  is  pretty  generally  under- 
stood that  no  more  infant  manufactures  will  be  bur- 
dened with  this  cruel  kind  of  protection. 

A  far  more  important,  question  than  that  of  the 
policy  is  that  of  the  principle  of  a  protective  system 
in  the  United  States. 

It  is  known  that  the  strongest  resistance   was 


THE    TARIFF.  235 

made  to  the  American  .system  on  the  ground  of  its 
being  unconstitutional.  Its  advocates  relied,  for 
the  necessary  sanction,  on  the  clauses  which  pro- 
vide that  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and 

collect  taxes,  and  duties,  imposts,  and  excises;" 

and  "  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations." 
With  regard  to  the  first  of  these  clauses,  both  parties 
seem,  more  or  less,  in  the  right.  By  the  tariff, 
Congress  proposed  "  to  lay  and  collect  duties  and 
imposts,"  as  the  constitution  gives  it  express  leave 
to  do.  Yet  it  is  clear  to  those  who  view  the  consti- 
tution in  the  light  of  the  sun  of  the  revolution,  that 
such  permission  was  given  solely  with  a  view  to  the 
collection  of  the  revenue.  No  one  of  the  framers 
of  the  constitution  could  have  foreseen  that  any  pro- 
posal would  be  made  to  lay  duties  for  the  protection 
of  the  productive  interests  of  a  section  of  the  Union. 
Such  a  use  of  the  clause  is  forbidden  in  spirit, 
though  not  in  the  letter,  by  the  clause  which  or- 
dains, "  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall 
be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States."  This 
clause  is,  in  its  spirit,  wholly  condemnatory  of  par- 
tial legislation  by  Congress. 

Remarks  somewhat  analogous  may  be  made 
respecting  the  other  clause,  which  empowers  Con- 
gress "  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations." 
By  the  letter  of  this  clause,  Congress  may  appear 
to  a  superficial  observer  authorised  so  to  regulate  its 


236  THE    TARIFF. 

commerce  with  Great  Britain  as  to  cause  an  arbi- 
trary distribution  of  property  and  industry  within 
her  own  boundaries;  but  such  a  double  action  could 
never  have  been  in  contemplation  of  the  framers  of 
the  instrument.  What  they  had  in  view  was  obvi- 
ously the  guardianship  of  the  national  commercial 
rights,  and  the  promotion  of  the  national  commer- 
cial, not  sectional  manufacturing,  interests. 

Where  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  constitu- 
tion are  made,  by  lapse  of  time  and  change  of  cir- 
cumstance, to  bear  out  opposite  modes  of  conduct, 
there  is  an  appeal  which  every  man  must  make,  for 
his  individual  satisfaction  and  conviction.  He  must 
appeal  to  the  fundamental  republican  principles,  out 
of  which  grew  both  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  the 
constitution. 

By  these  the  tariff  is  hopelessly  condemned.  It 
is  contrary  to  all  sound  republican  principle  that 
the  general  government  of  a  nation,  widely  spread 
over  regions,  and  separated  into  sections  diversified 
in  their  productions,  occupations,  and  interests, 
should  use  its  power  of  legislating  for  the  whole  to 
provide  for  the  particular  interests  of  a  part.  The 
principle  of  perfect  political  and  social  equality  is 
violated  when  the  general  government  takes  cog- 
nisance of  local  objects  so  far  as  to  do  a  deed  which 
must  materially  affect  the  distribution  of  private 
property ;  so  far  as  to  lay  a  tax  on  the  whole  of  the 


THE    TARIFF.  237 

nation  for  the  avowed  object  of  benefiting  a  part. 
The  government  of  a  republic  has  no  business  with 
distinctions  among  its  subjects.  It  is  to  have  no 
respect  of  classes,  more  than  of  individuals.  Its 
functions  are  to  be  discharged  for  the  common  in- 
terest ;  and  it  is  to  entertain  no  fancies  as  to  what 
new  institutions  or  arrangements  will  be  beneficial 
or  the  contrary  to  the  nation. 

All  such  institutions  and  arrangements  must  be 
made  within  the  several  States,  or  by  an  agreement 
of  States;  subject,  of  course,  to  the  permissions 
and  prohibitions  of  the  constitution.  If  one  State, 
or  several  States,  should  be  pleased  to  decree 
bounties  on  their  own  manufactures,  let  them  do  so. 
Whether  the  measure  were  wise  or  unwise,  no  one 
out  of  the  limits  of  such  State  or  States  would  have 
a  right  to  complain.  This  could  not  be  said  under 
the  tariff.  It  was  a  just  complaint  which  was  urged 
by  many  States,  that  the  federal  representation  was 
made  useless  to  the  minority,  from  the  moment  that 
the  federal  government  applied  itself  to  favour  local 
and  particular  interests.  The  case  is  not  altered 
by  the  possible  result  being  highly  beneficial  to  the 
whole  country  ;  which  is  the  plea  industriously  ad- 
vanced by  the  advocates  of  the  tariff.  Whatever 
direction  and  application  of  industry  and  capital 
may  be  ultimately  most  beneficial,  Congress  has,  on 
principle,  no  more  business  with  it  than  with  the 


238  THE   TARIFF. 

support  of  what  may  prove  in  the  end  to  be  the 
purest  religious  doctrine. 

A.  If  America  had  been  as  free,  from  the  begin- 
ning, in  all  respects,  as  a  young  country  ought  to 
be, — free  to  run  her  natural  course  of  prosperity, 
subject  only  to  the  faithful  laws  which  regulate  the 
economy  of  society  as  beneficially  as  another  set 
of  laws  regulates  the  seasons,  we  might  never  have 
heard  of  the  American  system.  The  poisonous 
anomaly  which  has  caused  almost  all  the  diseases 
that  have  afflicted  the  republic,  appears  to  be  the 
original  infection  here  also.  If  labour  in  the  south- 
ern States  had  been  free  long  ago,  the  deteriora- 
tion of  southern  property  would  riot  have  caused 
the  southern  planters  to  clamour  for  legislative 
protection.  The  arbitrary  tenure  of  labour  made 
them  desire  an  arbitrary  distribution  of  capital. 
They  desired  it  for  the  north,  as  eagerly  as  for 
themselves,  expecting  the  result  to  be  that  the 
cotton-growers  would  be  protected  by  heavy  im- 
port duties  on  cotton ;  and  that  the  prosperity  of 
the  north,  depending,  as  they  supposed,  wholly  on 
its  commerce,  would  be  crippled  by  the  same 
means ;  and  thus,  something  like  an  equality  be- 
tween north  and  south  be  restored.  The  effect 
was  different  from  what  had  been  anticipated. 
The  deterioration  of  the  south  went  on ;  and  ma- 
nufactures first  replaced,  and  then  renovated,  the 


THE    TARIFF.  239 

commerce  of  the  north.  The  next  consequence 
was  natural  enough.  The  south  became  infuriated 
against  the  tariff,  not  only  on  the  reasonable  ground 
of  its  badness  of  principle,  but  on  the  allegation 
that  it  was  the  cause  of  all  the  woes  of  the  south,* 

*  The  following  sketch  of  the  aspect  of  the  south-eastern  States 
is  a  very  faithful  one.  The  error  of  the  writer  is  in  supposing  that 
such  a  condition  could  be  brought  about  by  the  tariff,  rather  than 
by  the  necessary  operation  of  the  slavery  system,  Jby  which  the 
children  of  the  third  and  fourth  generations  are  always  reduced  to 
sigh  for  the  comparative  prosperity  of  their  fathers. 

"  These  views  of  the  degradation  of  the  southern  States  receive 
a  melancholy  and  impressive  confirmation  from  the  general  aspect 
and  condition  of  the  country,  viewed  in  contrast  with  its  former 
prosperity.  If  the  ancestors  of  this  generation  could  rise  from  the 
grave,  and  revisit  the  scenes  of  their  former  usefulness,  they 
would  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  that  the  hand  of  oppression  had 
fallen  heavily  upon  the  inheritance  of  their  children.  They  would 
be  utterly  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  change  everywhere  exhibited, 
upon  any  other  supposition. 

"  With  natural  advantages  more  bountiful  than  were  ever  dis- 
pensed by  a  kind  Providence  to  any  other  people  upon  the  face  of 
the  globe,  they  would  behold,  from  the  mountains  of  the  sea-coast, 
one  unbroken  scene  of  cheerless  stagnation  and  premature  decay. 
With  one  of  the  most  valuable  staples  that  ever  blessed  the  labours 
of  the  husbandman,  and  swelled  the  sails  of  a  prosperous  and  en- 
riching commerce,  they  would  find  that  our  estates  are,  with  a 
steady  and  fatal  proclivity,  depreciating  in  value,  our  fields  becom- 
ing waste,  and  our  cities  desolate.  With  habits  of  industry  and 
economy  which  have  no  example  in  our  former  history,  they  would 
find  the  heirs  of  the  largest  inheritances  generally  involved  in  em- 
barrassments, and  many  of  them  irretrievably  ruined.  Wherever 


240  THE   TARIFF. 

and  all  the  prosperity,  diversified  Math  woes,  of 
the  north.  It  has  always  been  the  method  of 
slaveholders  to  lay  the  blame  of  their  sufferings 
upon  everything  but  the  real  cause.  Any  one 
who  reads  the  history  of  slavery  in  the  book  of 
events,  will  find  slave-holders  of  every  country 
complaining  bitterly  and  incessantly  of  the  want  of 
legislative  protection  to  themselves,  or  of  its  being 
granted  to  others.  In  the  present  instance,  it  was 
a  device  of  the  slave-holders,  to  renovate  their  fall- 
ing fortunes,  turned  against  themselves. 

The  true  dignity  of  America  would  have  been, 
had  circumstances  allowed  of  it,  to  have  followed 
out  her  own  republican  principles,  instead  of  adopt- 
ing the  false  principles  and  injurious  policy  of 
older  and  less  favoured  nations.  If  she  had  left 
labour  and  commerce,  and  capital  free ;  disdaining 
interference  at  home  and  retaliation  abroad ;  show- 
ing her  faith  in  the  natural  laws  of  social  economy 
>v  calmly  committing  to  them  the  external  inte- 

tbey  might  cast  their  eyes,  they  would  find  melancholy  evidences 
that  the  withering  blasts  of  an  unsparing  despotism  had  passed 
over  the  land,  blighting  the  choicest  bounties  of  Providence,  and 
leaving  scarcely  a  solitary  memorial  of  our  former  prosperity. 
They  would  look  in  vain  for  the  animating  scenes  of  successful 
industry,  for  the  wealth  and  comforts  of  a  thriving  population,  and 
for  those  mansions  of  hospitality  which  were  once  the  seats  of  ele- 
gance, and  the  abodes  of  cheerfulness." — Southern  Eeview,  Nov. 
1828.  p.  613. 


-;; 


THE    TARIFF.  241 

rests  of  her  people,  she  would  by  this  time  have 
been  the  pattern  and  instructress  of  the  civilised 
world,  in  the  philosophy  of  production  and  com- 
merce. But  she  had  not  the  knowledge  nor  the 
requisite  faith;  nor  was  it  to  be  reasonably  ex- 
pected that  she  should.  Her  doctrine  was,  and  I 
fear  still  is,  that  she  need  not  study  political  econo- 
my while  she  is  so  prosperous  as  at  present :  that 
political  economy  is  for  those  who  are  under  adver- 
sity. If  in  other  cases  she  allows  that  prevention  is 
better  than  cure,  avoidance  than  reparation,  why 
not  in  this  ?  It  may  not  yet  be  too  late  for  her  to 
be  in  the  van  of  all  the  world  in  economical  as  in 
political  philosophy.  The  old  world  will  still  be  long 
in  getting  above  its  bad  institutions.  If  America 
would  free  her  servile  class  by  the  time  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Compromise  Bill  expire,  and  start  afresh 
in  pure  economical  freedom,  she  might  yet  be  the 
first  to  show,  by  her  transcendent  peace  and  pros- 
perity, that  democratic  principles  are  the  true  foun- 
dation of  economical,  as  well  as  political,  welfare. 


VOL.    II. 


242  MANUFACTURING    LABOUR. 


SECTION  II. 


MANUFACTURING    LABOUR. 

So  much  is  said  in  Europe  of  the  scarcity  of  agri- 
cultural labour  in  the  United  States,  that  it  is  a 
matter  of  surprise  that  manufactures  should  have 
succeeded  as  they  have  done.  It  is  even  supposed 
by  some  that  the  tariff  was  rendered  necessary  by  a 
deficiency  of  labour:  that  by  offering  a  premium  on 
manufacturing  industry,  the  requisite  amount  was 
sought  to  be  drawn  away  from  other  employments, 
and  concentrated  upon  this.  This  is  a  mistake. 
There  is  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  requisite 
amount  of  labour  would  have  been  forthcoming, 
if  affairs  had  been  left  to  take  their  natural  course. 

It  has  been  shown  that  domestic  manufactures 
were  carried  on  to  a  great  extent,  so  far  back  as 
1 790.  From  that  time  to  this,  they  have  never  al- 
together ceased  in  the  farm-houses,  as  the  home- 
spun, still  so  frequently  to  be  seen  all  over  the 
country,  and  the  agricultural  meetings  of  New  Eng- 
land, (where  there  is  usually  a  display  of  domestic 
manufactures,)  will  testify.  The  hands  by  which 
these  products  are  wrought  come  to  the  factories, 
when  the  demand  for  labour  renders  it  worth  while; 


MANUFACTURING   LABOUR.  243 

and  drop  back  into  the  farm-houses  when  the  de- 
mand slackens. 

It  is  not  the  custom  in  America  for  women  (ex- 
cept slaves)  to  work  out  of  doors.  It  has  been 
mentioned  that  the  young  men  of  New  England 
migrate  in  large  numbers  to  the  west,  leaving  an 
over-proportion  of  female  population,  the  amount  of 
which  I  could  never  learn.  Statements  were  made 
to  me ;  but  so  incredible  that  I  withhold  them.  Suf- 
fice it  that  there  are  many  more  women  than  men 
in  from  six  to  nine  States  of  the  Union.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  there  was  much  silent  suffer- 
ing from  poverty  before  the  institution  of  factories ; 
that  they  afford  a  most  welcome  resource  to  some 
thousands  of  young  women,  unwilling  to  give  them- 
selves to  domestic  service,  and  precluded,  by  the 
customs  of  the  country,  from  rural  labour.  We  have 
seen  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  labour  in  the 
Lowell  factories  is  supplied  by  women. 

Much  of  the  rest  is  furnished  by  immigrants.  I 
saw  English,  Irish,  and  Scotch  operatives.  I  heard 
but  a  poor  character  of  the  English  operatives ;  and 
the  Scotch  were  pronounced  "  ten  times  better." 
The  English  are  jealous  of  their  '  bargain,'  and  on 
the  watch  lest  they  should  be  asked  to  do  more  than 
they  stipulated  for :  their  habits  are  not  so  sober  as 
those  of  the  Scotch,  and  they  are  incapable  of  going 

M  2 


244  MANUFACTURING   LABOUR. 

beyond  the  single  operation  they  profess.     Such  is 
the  testimony  of  their  employers. 

The  demand  for  labour  is,  however,  sufficiently 
imperious  in  all  the  mechanical  departments  to 
make  it  surprising  that  prison  labour  is  regarded 
with  such  jealousy  as  I  have  witnessed.  When  it 
is  considered  how  small  a  class  the  convicts  of  the 
United  States  are,  and  are  likely  to  remain,  how 
essential  labour  is  to  their  reformation,  how  few  are 
the  kinds  of  manufacture  which  they  can  practise, 
and  that  it  is  of  some  importance  that  prison  establish- 
ments should  maintain  themselves,  it  seems  wholly 
unworthy  of  the  intelligent  mechanics  of  America 
that  they  should  be  so  afraid  of  convict  labour  as 
actually  to  obtain  pledges  from  some  candidates  for 
office,  to  propose  the  abolition  of  prison  manufac- 
tures. I  believe  that  the  Sing-Sing  and  Auburn  pri- 
sons, in  the  State  of  New  York,  turn  out  a  greater 
variety  and  amount  of  products  than  any  others ; 
and  they  have  yet  done  very  little  more  than  main- 
tain themselves.  The  Sing- Sing  convicts  quarry  and 
dress  granite :  the  Auburn  prisoners  make  clocks, 
combs,  shoes,  carpets,  and  machinery.  They  are 
cabinet  and  chair-makers,  weavers,  and  tailors. 
There  were  650  prisoners  when  J  was  there ;  and  of 
these  many  were  inexperienced  workmen ;  and  all 
were  not  employed  in  manufactures.  Jealousy  of 


MANUFACTURING   LABOUR.  245 

such  a  set  of  craftsmen  is  absurd,  in  the  present 
state  of  the  American  labour-market. 

I  saw  specimens  of  each  of  these  kinds  of  la- 
bour. A  few  days  after  I  entered  the  country,  I 
was  taken  to  an  agricultural  meeting,  held  annually 
at  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts.  We  were  too  late  to  see 
the  best  part  of  it, — the  dispensing  of  prizes  for  the 
best  agricultural  skill,  and  for  the  choicest  domes- 
tic manufactures.  But  there  were  specimens  left 
which  surprised  me  by  the  excellence  of  their  qua- 
lity;— table  and  bed-linen,  diapers,  blankets,  and 
knitted  wares.  There  was  an  ingenious  model  of 
a  bed  for  invalids,  combining  many  sorts  of  facili- 
ties for  change  of  posture.  There  were  nearly 
as  many  women  as  men  at  this  meeting ;  all  were 
well  dressed,  and  going  to  and  fro  in  the  household 
vehicle,  the  country-wagon,  with  the  invariable 
bear-skin  covering  the  seat,  and  peeping  out  on  all 
sides.  A  comfortable  display,  from  the  remains 
of  the  dinner,  was  set  out  for  us  by  smart  mulatto 
girls,  with  snow-berries  in  their  hair.  The  me- 
chanics' houses  in  this  beautiful  village  would  be 
enough,  if  they  could  be  exhibited  in  England,  to 
tempt  over  half  her  operatives  to  the  new  world. 

The  first  cotton-mill  that  I  saw  was  at  Paterson, 
New  Jersey.  It  was  set  up  at  first  with  nine  hun- 
dred spindles,  which  were  afterwards  increased 
to  fifteen  hundred ;  then  to  six  thousand.  Build- 


246  MANUFACTURING   LABOUR. 

ing  was  still  going  on  when  I  was  there.  The 
girls  were  all  well-dressed.  Their  hair  was  ar- 
ranged according  to  the  latest  fashions  which  had 
arrived,  via  New  York,  and  they  wore  calashes  in 
going  to  and  fro  between  their  dwellings  and  the 
mill.  I  saw  some  of  the  children  barefooted,  but 
carrying  unbrellas,  under  a  slight  sprinkling  of 
rain.  I  asked  whether  those  who  could  afford  um- 
brellas went  barefoot  for  coolness,  or  other  conve- 
nience. The  proprietor  told  me  that  there  had 
probably  been  an  economical  calculation  in  the 
case.  Stockings  and  shoes  would  defend  only 
the  feet;  while  the  umbrella  would  preserve  the 
gloss  of  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  costume. 
There  seems,  however,  to  be  a  strong  predilec- 
tion for  umbrellas  in  the  United  States.  A  con- 
vict, in  solitary  confinement  in  the  Philadelphia 
prison,  gave  me  the  history  of  all  his  burglaries. 
The  proximate  cause  of  his  capture  after  the  last 
was  an  umbrella.  He  had  broken  into  a  good- 
looking  house,  and  traversed  it  in  vain  in  search 
of  something  worth  the  risk  of  carrying  away.  On 
leaving  the  house,  he  found  it  rained.  He  went 
back,  and  took  a  new  cotton  umbrella.  It  dawned 
as  he  entered  the  city,  and  he  was  afraid  of  being 
seen  with  the  umbrella;  but  thought  suspicion 
would  be  excited  if  he  "heaved  it  away."  He 
met  an  acquaintance  who  was  further  from  home 


MANUFACTURING    LABOUR.  247 

than  himself,  and  insisted  on  his  accepting  the 
loan  of  the  umbrella.  The  acquaintance,  of  course, 
was  caught,  and  told  from  whom  he  had  had  the 
umbrella ;  and  the  burglar  was,  in  consequence, 
lodged  in  jail.  What  English  burglar  would  have 
thought  of  minding  rain  ?  If,  however,  there  ever 
was  a  case  of  amateur  burglary,  this  was  one. 

I  visited  the  corporate  factory-establishment  at 
Waltham,  within  a  few  miles  of  Boston.  The 
Waltham  Mills  were  at  work  before  those  of 
Lowell  were  set  up.  The  establishment  is  for  the 
spinning  and  weaving  of  cotton  alone,  and  the 
construction  of  the  requisite  machinery.  Five 
hundred  persons  were  employed  at  the  time  of  my 
visit.  The  girls,  earn  two,  and  some  three,  dollars 
a-week,  besides  their  board.  The  little  children 
earn  one  dollar  a-week.  Most  of  the  girls  live 
in  the  houses  provided  by  the  corporation,  which 
accommodate  from  six  to  eight  each.  When  sisters 
come  to  the  mill,  it  is  a  common  practice  for  them 
to  bring  their  mother  to  keep  house  for  them  and 
some  of  their  companions,  in  a  dwelling  built  by 
their  own  earnings.  In  this  case,  they  save  enough 
out  of  their  board  to  clothe  themselves,  and  have 
their  two  or  three  dollars  a-week  to  spare.  Some 
have  thus  cleared  off  mortgages  from  their  fathers' 
farms;  others  have  educated  the  hope  of  the 
family  at  college;  and  many  are  rapidly  accu- 


248  MANUFACTURING     LABOUR. 

mulating  an  independence.  I  saw  a  whole  street  of 
houses  built  with  the  earnings  of  the  girls ; 
some  with  piazzas,  and  green  Venetian  blinds; 
and  all  neat  and  sufficiently  spacious. 

The  factory  people  built  the  church,  which  stands 
conspicuous  on  the  green  in  the  midst  of  the  place. 
The  minister's  salary  (eight  hundred  dollars  last 
year)  is  raised  by  a  tax  on  the  pews.  The  cor- 
poration gave  them  a  building  for  a  lyceum,  which 
they  have  furnished  with  a  good  library,  and  where 
they  have  lectures  every  winter, — the  best  that 
money  can  procure.  The  girls  have,  in  many  in- 
stances, private  libraries  of  some  merit  and  value. 

The  managers  of  the  various  factory  establish- 
ments keep  the  wages  as  nearly  equal  as  possible, 
and  then  let  the  girls  freely  shift  about  from  one 
to  another.  When  a  girl  comes  to  the  overseer  to 
inform  him  of  her  intention  of  working  at  the  mill, 
he  welcomes  her,  and  asks  how  long  she  means  to 
stay.  It  may  be  six  months,  or  a  year,  or  five 
years,  or  for  life.  She  declares  what  she  considers 
herself  fit  for,  and  sets  to  work  accordingly.  If 
she  finds  that  she  cannot  work  so  as  to  keep  up 
with  the  companion  appointed  to  her,  or  to  please 
her  employer  or  herself,  she  comes  to  the  over- 
seer, and  volunteers  to  pick  cotton,  or  sweep  the 
rooms,  or  undertake  some  other  service  that  she 
can  perform. 


MANUFACTURING    LABOUR.  249 

The  people  work  about  seventy  hours  per  week, 
on  the  average.  The  time  of  work  varies  with  the 
length  of  the  days,  the  wages  continuing  the  same. 
All  look  like  well-dressed  young  ladies.  The 
health  is  good ;  or  rather,  (as  this  is  too  much  to 
be  said  about  health  any  where  in  the  United 
States,)  it  is  no  worse  than  it  is  elsewhere. 

These  facts  speak  for  themselves.  There  is  no 
need  to  enlarge  on  the  pleasure  of  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  operative  classes  of  the  United 
States. 

The  shoe-making  at  Lynn  is  carried  on  almost 
entirely  in  private  dwellings,  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  people  who  do  it  are  almost  all  farmers  or 
fishermen  likewise.  A  stranger  who  has  not  been 
enlightened  upon  the  ways  of  the  place  would  be 
astonished  at  the  number  of  small  square  erections, 
like  miniature  school- houses,  standing  each  as  an 
appendage  to  a  dwelling-house.  These  are  the 
"  shoe  shops,"  where  the  father  of  the  family  and 
his  boys  work,  while  the  women  within  are  em- 
ployed in  binding  and  trimming.  Thirty  or  more 
of  these  shoe-shops  may  be  counted  in  a  walk  of 
half-a-mile.  When  a  Lynn  shoe  manufacturer  re- 
ceives an  order,  he  issues  the  tidings.  The  leather 
is  cut  out  by  men  on  his  premises ;  and  then  the 
work  is  given  to  those  who  apply  for  it ;  if  pos- 
sible, in  small  quantities,  for  the  sake  of  dispatch. 

M  5 


250  MANUFACTURING    LABOUR. 

The  shoes  are  brought  home  on  Friday  night,  packed 
off  on  Saturday,  and  in  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks 
are  on  the  feet  of  dwellers  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union.  The  whole  family  works  upon  shoes  dur- 
ing the  winter ;  and  in  the  summer,  the  father 
and  sons  turn  out  into  the  fields,  or  go  fishing.  I 
knew  of  an  instance  where  a  little  boy  and  girl 
maintained  the  whole  family,  while  the  earnings  of 
the  rest  went  to  build  a  house.  I  saw  very  few  shabby 
houses.  Quakers  are  numerous  in  Lynn.  The 
place  is  unboundedly  prosperous,  through  the  tem- 
perance and  industry  of  the  people.  The  deposits 
in  the  Lynn  Savings'  Bank  in  1834,  were  about 
34,000  dollars,  the  population  of  the  town  beingthen 
4,000.  Since  that  time,  both  the  population  and 
the  prosperity  have  much  increased.  It  must  be 
remembered,  too,  that  the  mechanics  of  America 
have  more  uses  for  their  money  than  are  open 
to  the  operatives  of  England.  They  build  houses, 
buy  land,  and  educate  their  sons  and  daughters.* 
It  is  probably  true  that  the  pleasures  and  pains 
of  life  are  pretty  equally  distributed  among  its 
various  vocations  and  positions :  but  it  is  difficult 
to  keep  clear  of  the  impression  which  outward 
circumstances  occasion,  that  some  are  eminently 
desirable.  The  mechanics  of  these  northern  States 

*  The  deposits  in  the  Lowell  Savings'  Bank  for  1834,  were 
upwards  of  114,000  dollars. 


MANUFACTURING    LABOUR.  251 

appear  to  me  the  most  favoured  class  I  have  ever 
known.  In  England,  I  believe  the  highest  order 
of  mechanics  to  be,  as  a  class,  the  wisest  and  best 
men  of  the  community.  They  have  the  fewest 
base  and  narrow  interests :  they  are  brought  into 
sufficient  contact  with  the  realities  of  existence, 
without  being  hardened  by  excess  of  toil  and  care; 
and  the  knowledge  they  have  the  opportunity  of 
gaining  is  of  the  best  kind  for  the  health  of  the 
mind.  To  them,  if  to  any,  we  may  look  for  pub- 
lic and  private  virtue.  The  mechanics  of  Ame- 
rica have  nearly  all  the  same  advantages,  and 
some  others.  They  have  better  means  of  living  : 
their  labours  are  perhaps  more  honoured ;  and  they 
are  republicans,  enjoying  the  powers  and  prospects 
of  perfectly  equal  citizenship,  The  only  respect 
in  which  their  condition  falls  below  that  of  Eng- 
lish artisans  of  the  highest  order  is  that  the 
knowledge  which  they  have  commonly  the  means 
of  obtaining  is  not  of  equal  value.  The  facili- 
ties are  great :  schools,  lyceums,  libraries,  are  open 
to  them :  but  the  instruction  imparted  there  is  not 
so  good  as  they  deserve.  Whenever  they  have 
this,  it  will  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  mode  of  life 
more  favourable  to  virtue  and  happiness  than 
theirs. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  among  those  who 
know  both  England  and  America,  that  the  mechanics 


252  MANUFACTURING    LABOUR. 

of  the  New  World  work  harder  than  those  of  the 
Old.  They  have  much  to  do  besides  their  daily 
handicraft  business.  They  are  up  and  at  work 
early  about  this ;  and  when  it  is  done,  they  read 
till  late,  or  attend  lectures ;  or  perhaps  have  their 
houses  to  build  or  repair,  or  other  care  to  take  of 
their  property.  They  live  in  a  state  and  period  of 
society  where  every  man  is  answerable  for  his  own 
fortunes ;  and  where  there  is  therefore  stimulus  to 
the  exercise  of  every  power. 

What  a  state  of  society  it  is  when  a  dozen  arti- 
sans of  one  town, — Salem, — are  seen  rearing  each 
a  comfortable  one-story  (or,  as  the  Americans 
would  say,  two-story)  house,  in  the  place  with 
which  they  have  grown  up !  when  a  man  who 
began  with  laying  bricks  criticises,  and  sometimes 
corrects,  his  lawyer's  composition ;  when  a  poor  er- 
rand-boy becomes  the  proprietor  of  a  flourishing 
store,  before  he  is  thirty;  pays  off  the  capital  ad- 
vanced by  his  friends  at  the  rate  of  2,000  dollars  per 
month ;  and  bids  fair  to  be  one  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  the  place  ! 

Such  are  the  outward  fortunes  of  the  mechanics 
of  America.  Of  their  welfare  in  more  important 
respects,  to  which  these  are  but  a  part  of  the 
means,  I  shall  have  to  speak  in  another  connexion. 

There  are  troubles  between  employers  and  their 
workmen  in  the  United  States,  as  elsewhere :  but 


MANUFACTURING   LABOUR.  253 

the  case  of  the  men  is  so  much  more  in  their  own 
hands  there  than  where  labour  superabounds,  that 
strikes  are  of  a  very  short  duration.  The  only  re- 
medy the  employers  have,  the  only  safeguard 
against  encroachments  from  their  men,"  is  their 
power  of  obtaining  the  services  of  foreigners,  for 
a  short  time.  The  difficulty  of  stopping  business 
there  is  very  great ;  the  injury  of  delay  very  heavy: 
but  the  wages  of  labour  are  so  good  that  there  is 
less  cause  for  discontent  on  the  part  of  the  work- 
men than  elsewhere.  All  the  strikes  I  heard  of 
were  on  the  question  of  hours,  not  of  wages. 

The  employers  are,  of  course,  casting  about  to 
see  how  they  can  help  themselves ;  and,  as  all  are 
not  wise  and  experienced,  it  is  natural  that  some 
should  talk  of  laws  to  prohibit  Trades  Unions. 
There  is  no  harm  in  their  talking  of  such ;  for  the 
matter  will  never  get  beyond  talk; — unless,  in- 
deed, the  combinations  of  operatives  should  as- 
sume any  forms,  or  comprehend  any  principles  in- 
consistent with  the  republican  spirit.  The  majo- 
rity will  not  vote  for  any  law  which  shall  restrain 
any  number  of  artisans  from  agreeing  for  what 
price  they  will  sell  their  labour ;  though  I  heard 
several  learned  gentlemen  agreeing,  at  dinner  one 
day,  that  there  ought  to  be  such  laws.  On  my 
objecting  that  the  interest  of  the  parties  concerned 
would,  especially  in  a  free  and  rising  country,  set- 


254  MANUFACTURING    LABOUR. 

tie  all  questions  between  labour  and  capital  with 
more  precision,  fairness,  and  peace,  than  any  law, 
it  was  pleaded  that  intimidation  and  outrage  were 
practised  by  those  who  combined  against  those  who 
would  not  join  them.  I  found,  on  inquiry,  that 
there  is  an  ample  provision  of  laws  against  inti- 
midation and  outrage ;  but  that  it  is  difficult  to 
get  them  executed.  If  so,  it  would  be  also  diffi- 
cult to  execute  laws  against  combinations  of  work- 
men, supposing  them  obtained  :  and  the  grievance 
does  not  lie  in  the  combination  complained  of, 
but  somewhere  else.  The  remedy  is,  (if  there 
be  indeed  intimidation  and  outrage,)  not  in  passing 
more  laws,  to  be  in  like  manner  defied,  while  suffi- 
cient already  exist ;  but  in  enlightening  the  par- 
ties on  the  subjects  of  law  and  social  obligation. 

One  day,  in  going  down  Broadway,  New  York, 
the  carriage  in  which  I  was,  stopped  for  some  time, 
in  consequence  of  an  immense  procession  on  the 
side-walk  having  attracted  the  attention  of  all  the 
drivers  within  sight  The  marching  gentlemen 
proceeded  on  their  way,  with  an  easy  air  of  genti- 
lity. Banners  were  interposed  at  intervals ;  and, 
on  examining  these,  I  could  scarcely  believe  my 
eyes.  They  told  me  that  this  was  a  procession  of 
the  journeymen  mechanics  of  New  York.  Surely 
never  were  such  dandy  mechanics  seen ;  with  sleek 
coats,  glossy  hats,  gay  watch-guards,  and  doe-skin 
gloves ! 


MANUFACTURING   LABOUR.  255 

I  rejoice  to  have  seen  this  sight.  I  had  other 
opportunities  of  witnessing  the  prosperity  of  their 
employers  ;  so  that  I  could  be  fairly  pleased  at 
theirs.  There  need  be  no  fear  for  the  interests  of 
either,  while  the  natural  laws  of  demand  and  sup- 
ply must  protect  each  from  any  serious  encroach- 
ment by  the  other.  If  they  will  only  respect  the 
law,  their  temporary  disagreement,  and  apparent 
opposition  of  interests  will  end  in  being  mere  re- 
adjustments of  the  terms  on  which  they  are  to  pur- 
sue their  common  welfare. 


256 


CHAPTER  IV. 
COMMERCE. 


"  He  hath  an  argosy  hound  to  Tripolis,  another  to  the  Indies  : 
I  understand  moreover  upon  the  Rialto,  he  hath  a  third  at  Mex- 
ico, a  fourth  for  England :  and  other  ventures  he  hath." 

Merchant  of  Venice. 

THERE  is  no  need  to  say  much  about  the  extent  of 
the  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  since  it  is 
already  the  admiration  of  Europe,  and  its  history 
is  before  every  one  in  the  shape  of  figures.  The 
returns  of  exports  and  imports  annually  published 
are  sufficiently  eloquent. 

Dollars. 
The  Imports,  for  the  year  1825,    were    in    value,     96,340,075 

1830, 70,876,920 

1835, 126,521,332 


COMMERCE.  257 

Dollars. 

The  Exports  of  domestic  produce,  for  1825  were,  66,944,745 

of  foreign  produce        -         -         -  32,590,643 

Total  99,535,388 

The  Exports  of  domestic  produce  for  1830  were,  59,462,029 

of  foreign 14,387,479 


73,849,508 

The  Exports  of  domestic  produce  for  1835,  were,  81,024,162 
of  foreign 23,312,811 


104,336,973 

It  will  be  seen,  from  these  returns,  how  great  a 
reduction  in  the  commerce  of  the  United  States 
was  occasioned  by  the  tariff,  which  attracted  a 
large  amount  of  capital  from  commerce,  to  be  in- 
vested in  manufactures.  The  balance  has  been 
nearly  restored  by  the  prospect  of  the  expiration  of 
the  protective  system;  and  both  commerce  and 
manufactures  are  again  rapidly  on  the  increase. 
The  foreign  tonnage  of  Massachusetts  has  increased 
fifty-three  per  cent  within  the  last  five  years, 
though,  owing  to  a  new  mode  of  ship-construction, 
twice  the  quantity  is  stowed  in  the  same  nominal 
tonnage. 

The  commerce  of  the  south-west  was  in  high 
prosperity  when  I  was  there.  When  I  was  at  Mo- 


258  COMMERCE. 

bile,  in  April  1835, 1  was  informed  that  183,000 
bales  of  cotton  had  been  brought  down  into 
Mobile  since  the  beginning  of  the  year.*  A 
friend  of  mine,  engaged  in  commerce  there,  told 
me  of  the  enormous  interest  on  money  then  ob- 
tainable. Eight  per  cent,  is  the  legal  interest; 
but  double  is  easily  to  be  had.  Another,  a 
wealthy  gentleman  of  New  Orleans,  speculates 
largely  every  season,  for  the  sake  of  something 
to  do,  and  makes  a  fortune  each  time,  by  lend- 
ing out  at  high  interest.  He  declares  that  he 

*  The  value  of  the  cargoes  which  arrived  at  Mobile  in  1830, 


By  American  vessels 
British 


In  1834,  by  American  vessels 
British 


388,811 

The  value  of  the  cargoes  which  departed  from  Mo- 
bile in  1830,  was,  by  American  vessels  .  1,517,663 
British              '".•''-            .  476,702 


In  1834,  by  American  vessels 
British 


6,270,197 


COMMERCE.  259 

never  loses,  and  never  fails  to  gain  largely ;  the 
commerce  is  so  flourishing,  and  the  demand  for  ca- 
pital so  intense.  This  is  the  region  in  which  to 
witness  the  full  absurdity  of  usury  laws.  They  are 
evaded,  as  often  as  convenient,  and  serve  no  other 
purpose  than  to  annex  a  kind  of  disgrace  to  a  deed 
which  must  of  necessity  be  done, — loaning  out 
money  at  higher  than  the  legal  interest.  The 
same  evasion  takes  place  in  Massachusetts,  where 
the  legal  interest  is  six  per  cent.  The  interest 
there,  as  elsewhere,  rises  just  as  high  as  the  de- 
mand for  money  must  naturally  bring  it. 

I  was  acquainted  with  a  gentleman  who  had  lost 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  in  an  unfortunate 
speculation,  and  who  expected  to  retrieve  the 
whole  the  next  season.  The  price  of  everything 
was  rising.  For  my  own  share,  I  had  to  pay  twelve 
dollars  for  my  passage  from  Mobile  to  New  Or- 
leans :  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  higher  for  my 
voyage  up  the  Mississippi  than  if  I  had  gone  the 
preceding  year.  The  fare  I  paid  was  fifty  dollars. 
These  two  fares  were  the  only  exceptions  to  the 
remarkable  cheapness  of  travelling  in  the  United 
States  and  these  would  not  be  considered  high 
anywhere  else. 

The  Cumberland  river,  on  which  stands  Nash- 
ville, the  capital  of  Tennessee,  and  which  empties 
itself  into  the  Ohio,  has  scarcely  been  heard  of  in 


260  COMMERCE. 

England ;  yet,  of  all  the  tobacco  consumed  in  the 
world,  one-seventh  goes  down  this  river.  I  as- 
cended it  in  a  very  small  steam-boat,  one  of  twelve, 
six  large  and  six  small,  then  perpetually  navigating 
it,  and  carrying  cotton,  tobacco,  and  passengers. 
Of  these  boats,  one  had  carried,  the  preceding  year, 
three  hundred  and  sixty  bales  of  cotton,  of  the 
value  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars. 

When  we  look  at  the  northern  ports,  and  ob- 
serve the  variety,  as  well  as  the  extent  of  their 
commerce,  there  seems  good  ground  for  the  ex- 
pectation expressed  to  me  by  many  American  mer- 
chants, that  the  English  language  will  finally  be- 
come familiar,  not  only  over  all  the  east,  but  over 
all  the  globe. 

Salem,  Massachusetts,  is  a  remarkable  place. 
This  "  city  of  peace"  will  be  better  known  here- 
after for  its  commerce  than  for  its  witch-tragedy. 
It  has  a  population  of  14,000;  and  more  wealth 
in  proportion  to  its  population  than  perhaps  any 
town  in  the  world.  Its  commerce  is  speculative, 
but  vast  and  successful.  It  is  a  frequent  circum- 
stance that  a  ship  goes  out  without  a  cargo,  for  a 
voyage  round  the  world.  In  such  a  case,  the  cap- 
tain puts  his  elder  children  to  school,  takes  his 
wife  and  younger  children,  and  starts  for  some 
semi-barbarous  place,  where  he  procures  some  odd 
kind  of  cargo,  which  he  exchanges  with  advan- 


COMMERCE.  261 

tage  for  another,  somewhere  else;  and  so  goes 
trafficking  round  the  world,  bringing  home  a  freight 
of  the  highest  value. 

The  enterprising  merchants  of  Salem  are  hoping 
to  appropriate  a  large  share  of  the  whale  fishery ; 
and  their  ships  are  penetrating  the  northern  ice. 
They  are  favourite  customers  in  the  Russian  ports, 
and  are  familiar  with  the  Swedish  and  Norwegian 
coasts.  They  have  nearly  as  much  commerce  with 
Bremen  as  with  Liverpool.  They  speak  of  Fayal  and 
the  other  Azores  as  if  they  were  close  at  hand.  The 
fruits  of  the  Mediterranean  countries  are  on  every 
table.  They  have  a  large  acquaintance  at  Cairo. 
They  know  Napoleon's  grave  at  St.  Helena,  and 
have  wild  tales  to  tell  of  Mosambique  and  Mada- 
gasca,  and  store  of  ivory  to  show  from  thence. 
They  speak  of  the  power  of  the  king  of  Muscat, 
and  are  sensible  of  the  riches  of  the  south-east 
coast  of  Arabia.  It  entered  some  wise  person's 
head,  a  few  seasons  ago,  to  export  ice  to  India.  The 
loss,  by  melting,  of  the  first  cargo,  was  one  fourth. 
The  rest  was  sold  at  six  cents  per  Ib.  When  the 
value  of  this  new  import  became  kriown,  it  was  in 
great  request ;  and  the  latter  sales  have  been  al- 
most instantaneous,  at  ten  cents  per  pound  :  so  that 
it  is  now  a  good  speculation  to  send  ice  12,000 
miles  to  supersede  salt-petre  in  cooling  sherbet. 
The  young  ladies  of  America  have  rare  shells  from 


262  COMMERCE. 

Ceylon  in  their  cabinets ;  and  their  drawing-rooms 
are  decked  with  Chinese  copies  of  English  prints. 
I  was  amused  with  two :  the  scene  of  Hero  swoon- 
ing in  the  church,  from  « Much  Ado  about  Nothing;' 
and  Shakspeare  between  Tragedy  and  Comedy. 
The  faces  of  Comedy  and  of  Beatrice  from  the 
hands  of  Chinese  !  I  should  not  have  found  out 
the  place  of  their  second  birth  but  for  a  piece  of 
unfortunate  foreshortening  in  each.  I  observed  to  a 
friend,  one  day,  upon  the  beauty  of  all  the  new  cord- 
age that  met  my  eye,  silky  and  bright.  He  told  me 
that  it  was  made  of  Manilla  hemp,  of  the  value  of 
which  the  British  seem  to  be  unaware ;  though  it 
has  been  introduced  into  England.  He  mentioned 
that  he  had  been  the  first  importer  of  it.  Eight 
years  before,  600  bales  per  annum  were  imported  : 
now,  20,000.  The  merchants  doubt  whether  Aus- 
tralia will  be  able  to  surmount  the  disadvantage  of 
a  deficiency  of  navigable  rivers.  They  have  hopes 
of  Van  Diemen's  Land,  think  well  of  Singapore, 
and  acknowledge  great  expectations  from  New 
Zealand.  Any  body  will  give  you  anecdotes  from 
Canton,  and  descriptions  of  the  Society  and  Sand- 
wich Islands.  They  often  slip  up  the  western 
coasts  of  their  two  continents  ;  bring  furs  from  the 
back  regions  of  their  own  wide  land ;  glance  up  at 
the  Andes  on  their  return ;  double  Cape  Horn ; 
touch  at  the  ports  of  Brazil  and  Guiana;  look 


COMMERCE.  263 

about  them  in  the  West  Indies,  feeling  there  almost 
at  home ;  and  land,  some  fair  morning,  at  Salem, 
and  walk  home  as  if  they  had  done  nothing  very 
remarkable. 

Such  is  the  commerce  of  Salem,  in  its  most 
meagre  outline.  Some  illustration  of  it  may  be 
seen  in  the  famous  Salem  Museum.  In  regard  to 
this  institution,  a  very  harmless  kind  of  monopoly 
exists.  No  one  is  admitted  of  the  museum  pro- 
prietary body  who  has  not  doubled,  the  Capes  Horn 
and  Good  Hope.  Everybody  is  freely  admitted  to 
visit  the  institution ;  and  any  one  may  contribute, 
either  curiosities  or  the  means  of  procuring  them ; 
but  the  doubling  of  the  Capes  is  an  unalterable  con- 
dition of  the  honour  of  being  a  member.  This  has 
the  effect  of  preserving  a  salutary  interest  among 
the  members  of  the  society,  and  respect  among 
those  who  cannot  be  admitted.  The  society  have 
laid  by  20,000  dollars,  after  having  built  a  hand- 
some hall  for  the  reception  of  their  curiosities ;  but  a 
far  more  important  benefit  is  that  it  has  now  become 
discreditable  to  return  from  a  long  voyage  without 
some  novel  contribution  to  the  Museum.  This  sets 
people  inquiring  what  is  already  there,  and  ensures 
a  perpetual  and  valuable  accretion.  I  am  glad  to 
have  seen  there  some  Oriental  curiosities,  which 
might  never  otherwise  have  blessed  my  sight :  espe- 
cially some  wonderful  figures,  made  of  an  unknown 
mixed  metal,  dug  up  in  Java,  being  caricatures  of 


•264  COMMERCE. 

the  old  Dutch  soldiers  sent  to  guard  the  first  colo- 
nies. A  reasonably  grave  person  might  stand 
laughing  before  these  for  half  a  day.  I  had  no 
idea  there  had  been  so  much  humour  in  the  Java 
people. 

The  stability  of  the  commercial  interest  in  the 
United  States  was  put  to  the  test  by  the  great  fire 
at  New  York.  All  the  circumstances  regarding 
this  fire  were  remarkable ;  no  one  more  so  than 
that  not  a  single  failure  took  place  in  consequence. 

For  many  days  preceding  this  fire,  the  weather 
had  been  intensely  cold,  the  thermometer  standing 
at  Boston  17  degrees  below  zero.  On  the  Sunday 
before,  (13th  of  December  1835,)  I  went  to  hear 
the  Seamen's  friend,  Father  Taylor,  as  he  is  called, 
preach  at  the  Sailors'  Chapel,  in  Boston.  His  elo- 
quence is  of  a  peculiar  kind,  especially  in  his 
prayers,  which  are  absolutely  importunate  with  re- 
gard to  even  external  objects  of  desire.  Part  of  his 
prayer  this  day  was,  "  Give  us  water,  water  I  The 
brooks  refuse  to  murmur,  and  the  streams  are  dead. 
Break  up  the  fountains:  open  the  secret  springs 
that  thy  hand  knoweth,  and  give  us  water,  water ! 
Let  us  not  perish  by  a  famine  of  water,  or  a  deluge 
of  conflagration;  for  we  dread  the  careless  wan- 
dering spark."  I  was  never  before  aware  of  the 
fear  of  fire  entertained  during  these  intense  frosts. 
It  is  a  reasonable  fear.  A  gentleman,  bent  upon 
daily  bathing,  was  seen  one  morning  disconso- 


COMMERCE.  265 

lately  returning  from  the  river  side ;  he  had  em- 
ployed three  men  to  break  the  ice,  and  they  could 
not  get  at  a  drop  of  water.  What  hope  was  there 
in  case  of  fire  ? 

The  New  York  fire  broke  out  at  eight  in  the 
evening  of  Wednesday,  the  16th  of  December. 
Every  one  knows  the  leading  facts,  that  52  or  54 
acres  were  laid  waste ;  many  public  buildings  de- 
stroyed, and  property  to  the  amount  of  18,000,000 
of  dollars. 

Several  particulars  were  given  to  me  on  the 
spot,  three  months  afterwards,  by  some  observers 
and  some  sufferers.  At  a  boarding-house  in  Broad- 
way, where  some  friends  of  mine  were  residing, 
there  were  several  merchants,  some  with  their 
wives,  who  dined  that  day  in  good  spirits,  and,  as 
they  afterwards  believed,  perfectly  content  with 
their  worldly  condition  and  prospects.  At  eight 
o'clock  there  was  an  alarm  of  fire.  It  was  thought 
nothing  of ;  alarms  of  fire  being  as  frequent  as  day 
and  night  in  New  York.  After  a  while,  a  mer- 
chant of  the  company  was  sent  for,  and  some 
little  anxiety  was  expressed.  Two  or  three  per- 
sons looked  out  of  the  upper  windows,  but  it  was 
a  night  of  such  still,  deep  frost,  that  the  reflection 
in  the  atmosphere  was  much  less  glaring  than 
might  have  been  expected.  Another  and  then  an- 
other gentleman  was  sent  for.  News  came  of  the 

VOL.    II.  N 


266  COMMERCE. 

absolute  lack  of  water,  and  that  there  was  no  gun- 
powder in  the  city — none  nearer  than  Brooklyn. 
The  gentlemen  all  rushed  out ;  the  anxious  ladies 
went  from  the  windows  to  the  fire-side ;  from  the 
fire-side  to  the  windows.  One  gentleman  and  lady 
in  the  house,  a  young  German  couple,  just  arrived, 
and  knowing  scarcely  a  word  of  English,  were  un- 
aware of  all  this.  None  of  their  chattels,  not  even 
the  lady's  clothes,  had  been  removed  from  their 
store  in  Pearl  Street,  where  lay  her  books,  music, 
wardrobe,  and  property  of  every  sort.  Pretty  early 
in  the  morning  the  poor  gentleman  was  roused 
from  his  slumbers,  could  not  comprehend  the  cause, 
went  down  to  Pearl  Street,  and,  amidst  the  amaze- 
ment and  desolation,  just  contrived  to  save  his  ac- 
count-books, and  nothing  else.  In  the  morning, 
the  lady  was  destitute  of  even  a  change  of  raiment, 
in  a  foreign  country,  of  whose  language  she  could 
not  speak  one  word.  There  were  kind  hearts  all 
around  her,  however,  and  she  was  quite  cheerful 
when  I  saw  her,  a  few  weeks  afterwards. 

The  lady  of  the  house  was  so  worn,  weary,  and 
cold,  by  three  in  the"  morning,  that  she  retired  to 
her  room ;  desiring  her  domestics  to  call  her  if  the 
fire  should  catch  Broad  Street ;  in  which  case,  it 
would  be  time  to  be  packing  up  plate,  and  moving 
furniture.  In  a  little  while,  there  was  a  tap  at  her 
door.  Broad  Street  was  not  on  fire,  however; 


COMMERCE.  267 

but  some  of  the  gentlemen  had  come  home,  smoked 
and  frost-bitten,  and  eager  for  help  and  warm  water. 
One  gentleman,  who  had  nothing  more  at  stake 
than  three  chests  of  Scotch  linen,  (valuable  because 
home-woven,)  of  which  he  saved  one,  losing  a 
superb  Spanish  cloak  in  the  process,  was  desirous 
that  his  wife  should  see  the  spectacle  of  the  con- 
flagration. She  walked  down  to  the  scene  of  the 
fire  with  him,  after  midnight.  They  took  their 
stand  in  a  square,  in  the  centre  of  which  an  im- 
mense quantity  of  costly  goods  was  heaped  up.  It 
was  strange  and  vexatious  to  see  the  havoc  that 
was  made  among  beautiful  things; — cachemere 
shawls  strewing  the  ground ;  horses'  feet  swathed 
in  lace  veils ;  French  silks  getting  entangled  and 
torn  in  the  wheels  of  the  carts.  The  lady  picked 
up  shawls  and  veils ;  and  when  her  husband  asked 
her  where  she  proposed  to  put  them,  could  only 
throw  them  down  again.  After  she  had  left  the 
place,  the  houses  caught  fire,  all  round  the  square, 
fell  in,  and  burned  the  costly  goods  in  one  grand 
bonfire. 

There  had  been  occasional  quarrels  between  the 
merchants  and  the  carmen.  The  carmen  conceived 
themselves  injured  by  certain  merchants.  Whe- 
ther they  had  reason  for  this  belief  or  not,  I  can- 
not pretend  to  say.  They  thought  this  a  time  for 
revenge.  Some  crossed  their  arms,  as  they  leaned 

N  2 


268  COMMERCE. 

against  their  carts,  and  refused  to  stir  a  step,  un- 
less twenty  dollars  a  load  were  paid  them  on  the 
spot.  Some  few  refused  to  help  at  all.  This  must 
have  been  a  far  more  deadly  sorrow  to  the  suf- 
ferers than  the  ruin  the  fire  was  working.  One 
carman  was  very  provoking  when  a  French  gen- 
tleman had  not  a  moment  to  lose  in  saving  his 
stock.  The  gentleman  said  coolly  at  last,  taking 
out  his  money,  "  For  what  sum  will  you  sell  your 
horse  and  cart  ?"  The  temptation  was  irresistible 
to  the  carman.  He  named  500  dollars  for  his 
sorry  hack  and  small  vehicle,  and  was  paid  on  the 
instant.  The  French  gentleman  saved  goods  to 
the  amount  of  100,000  dollars.  It  was  a  good 
bargain  for  both. 

At  six  in  the  morning,  when  the  necessary  ex- 
plosions had  checked  the  fire,  the  gentlemen  of  the 
household  I  have  mentioned,  being  completely 
ruined,  for  anything  they  knew  to  the  contrary, 
came  home  ;  and  the  ladies  went  to  bed.  Some  of 
the  least  interested  consulted  what  should  be  done 
at  dinner-time ;  whether  the  company  in  general 
could  bear  the  subject;  whether  it  was  best  to  talk 
or  be  silent.  It  was  a  languid,  sorrowful  meal: 
the  gentlemen  looking  haggard;  their  ladies  anxious. 
The  next  day,  they  were  able  to  talk, — to  describe, 
to  relate  anecdotes,  and  speculate  on  consequences. 
The  third  day,  all  were  nearly  as  cheerful  as  if  no- 


COMMERCE.  269 

thing  had  happened:  though  some  had  lost  all, 
and  others,  they  knew  not  how  much. 

The  report  of  the  fire  spread  as  news  through 
the  upper  part  of  the  city,  the  next  morning.  Some 
friends  of  mine  had  walked  home  from  a  visit,  up- 
wards of  a  mile,  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  neither 
heard  nor  seen  anything  of  the  fire. 

The  larger  proportion  of  the  New  York  mer- 
chants were  thus  deprived  at  a  stroke  of  their 
buildings,  stocks,  in  many  cases  of  all  books  and 
papers,  and,  lastly,  of  the  benefit  of  insurance. 
The  insurance  companies  were  plunged  in  almost 
a  general  insolvency.  The  only  relief  proposed, 
or  that  could  be  offered,  was  an  extension  of  time, 
without  interest,  to  the  debtors  of  the  government 
for  payment  of  bonds  given  to  secure  the  duties 
upon  goods  recently  imported :  and  this  small  re- 
lief could  not  be  obtained  till  too  late  to  be  of 
much  use. 

Happily,  the  fire  occurred  at  one  of  the  least 
busy  seasons  of  the  year.  The  merchants  could 
concert  together  for  the  saving  of  their  credit :  and 
they  did  it  to  some  purpose.  Their  credit  sus- 
tained the  shock  of  all  this  confusion,  uncertainty, 
and  dismay.  The  conduct  of  the  merchants  who 
had  not  directly  suffered,  and  of  the  banks,  was 
admirable.  They  threw  aside  all  their  usual  caution, 
and  dispensed  help  and  accommodation  with  the 


270  COMMERCE. 

last  degree  of  liberality.  The  consequence  was, 
that  not  one  house  failed.  It  seems  now  as  if  the 
commercial  credit  of  New  York  could  stand  any 
shock  short  of  an  earthquake,  like  that  of  Lisbon. 

Some  merchants  had  the  unexpected  pleasure 
of  finding  themselves  richer  than  they  were  be- 
fore. One  was  travelling  in  Europe  with  his  lady, 
when  the  news  overtook  him  that  the  hundred  and 
fifty  stores  in  which  he  had  property  were  all 
burned  down.  He  wrote  that  he  and  his  lady  were 
hastening  to  Havre,  on  their  way  home,  where  they 
must  live  in  the  most  economical  and  laborious 
manner,  to  repair  their  fortunes.  With  such  in- 
tentions they  crossed  the  Atlantic ;  and  on  land- 
ing were  met  by  the  intelligence  that  they  had  be- 
come very  wealthy,  from  their  ground  lots  having 
sold  for  more  than  ground,  stores,  and  stock,  were 
worth  before. 

I  saw  the  fifty-two  acres  of  ruins  in  the  following 
April.  We  traversed  what  had  been  streets,  and 
climbed  the  ruins  of  the  Exchange.  The  pedestal 
of  Hamilton's  statue  was  standing,  strewed  round 
with  fragments  of  burnt  calicoes,  which  people 
were  disinterring.  There  was  a  litter  of  stone 
pannels,  broken  columns,  and  cornices.  Bushels  of 
coffee  paved  our  way.  A  boy  presented  me  with 
a  half-fused  watch-key  from  the  cellar  of  what  had 
been  a  jeweller's  store.  The  blackened  ruins  of 


COMMERCE.  271 

a  church  frowned  over  all.  The  most  singular 
spectacle  was  a  store,  standing  alone  and  unharmed, 
amidst  the  desolation.  It  belonged  to  a  Jew,  was 
fire-proof,  and  contained  hay,  not  a  blade  of  which 
was  singed.  This  square-fronted,  elongated,  ugly 
building,  standing  obliquely,  and  as  clean  as  if 
smoke  had  never  touched  it,  had  a  most  saucy  ap- 
pearance: and  so  it  might,  so  many  erections, 
equally  called  fire-proof,  having  disappeared,  while 
it  alone  remained. 

By  the  next  July,  the  entire  area  was  covered 
with  new  erections ;  and  long  before  this,  doubt- 
less, all  is  to  the  outward  eye,  as  if  no  fire  had 
happened. 

But  for  the  testimony  afforded  by  this  event,  of 
the  substantial  credit  in  New  York,  the  enormous 
prices  given  for  land, — the  above-mentioned  ground 
lots,  for  instance, — might  cause  a  suspicion  that 
there  was  much  wild  speculation.  I  trust  it  is  not 
so.  The  eagerness  for  land  is,  however,  extraor- 
dinary. A  lady  sold  an  estate  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  New  York,  for  what  she  and  her  friends 
considered  a  large  sum;  and  a  few  weeks  after 
she  had  concluded  the  bargain,  and  soon  after  the 
destruction  of  eighteen  millions  of  the  wealth  of 
the  city,  she  found  she  might  have  obtained  three 
times  the  amount  for  which  she  had  sold  her  estate. 
The  whole  south  end  of  the  city  is  being  rapidly 
turned  into  stores ;  and  it  is  obvious  that  the  mer- 


272  COMMERCE. 

cantile  princes  of  this  emporium  have  no  idea  of 
their  conquests  being  bounded  by  any  circumstance 
short  of  the  limits  of  the  globe. 

Is  there  anything  to  be  learned  here,  as  well  as 
to  admire  ?  any  inference  to  be  drawn  for  the  be- 
nefit of  other  nations  ? 

An  English  member  of  parliament  wrote  to  a 
friend  residing  in  one  of  the  American  ports,  in- 
quiring whether  this  friend  could  suggest  any 
coarse  of  parliamentary  action  by  which  the  com- 
merce of  England,  or  of  both  countries,  could  be 
benefited.  The  American  replied  by  urging  his 
friend  to  work  incessantly  at  a  repeal  of  the  corn 
laws,  and  in  any  way  which  may  keep  the  United 
States  continually  before  the  eyes  of  the  com- 
mercial rulers  of  Great  Britain.  "  You  talk,"  said 
he,  "  of  your  commercial  arrangements  with  Por- 
tugal. Well  and  good!  but  what  is  Portugal? 
She  has  two  millions  of  priests  and  beggars ;  and 
at  the  end  of  the  century  she  will  have  two 
millions  of  priests  and  beggars  stilL  What 
will  the  wealth  and  productions  of  the  United 
States  be  then  ?'  If  the  United  States  have  now 
18,000,000  of  people,  and  their  population  is  in- 
creasing at  an  unexampled  rate, — a  free  and  an 
opulent  population, — the  interest  of  Great  Britain 
is  plain  ;— to  have  a  primary  regard  to  the  United 
States  in  the  arrangement  of  her  commercial 
policy. 


THE    CURRENCY.  273 


SECTION    I. 

THE    CURRENCY. 

The  fundamental  difficulty  of  this  great  question, 
now,  one  of  the  most  prominent  in  the  United 
States,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that,  while  the 
practice  of  banking  is  essential  to  a  manufacturing 
and  commercial  nation,  a  perfect  system  of  bank- 
ing remains  to  be  discovered. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  question  of  the 
Currency  has  never  yet  been  practically  mastered 
in  the  countries  of  the  Old  World ;  that  in  America 
it  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  young  and  inex- 
perienced people ;  that  it  is  implicated  with  con- 
stitutional questions,  and  has  to  be  reconciled  with 
democratic  principles,  it  will  not  be  expected  that 
a  passing  stranger  will  be  able  to  present  a  very 
clear  view  of  its  present  aspect,  or  any  decided 
opinion  upon  difficulties  which  perplex  the  wisest 
heads  in  the  country.  The  mere  history  of  bank- 
ing in  the  United  States  would  fill  more  than  a 
volume  :  and  the  speculations  which  arise  out  of  it, 
a  library. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  was  an  early  split 
into  parties  on  the  subject  of  the  constitutionality 

N  5 


274  THE    CURRENCY. 

of  a  national  bank.  Washington  requested  the 
opinions  of  his  cabinet  upon  it  in  writing;  and 
Hamilton  gave  his  in  favour  of  the  constitutionality 
of  a  national  bank :  Edmund  Randolph  and  Jef- 
ferson against  it.  The  question  has  been  stirred 
from  time  to  time  since ;  while  Hamilton's  opinions 
have  been  acted  upon. 

The  ground  of  objection  is  a  very  strong  one.  It 
lies  in  the  provision  that  "  all  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  United  States  by  the  constitution,  nor  pro- 
hibited by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  or  to  the  people."  No  power  to  establish 
corporations  is,  in  any  case,  delegated  by  the  con- 
stitution to  the  United  States  ;  nor  does  it  appear 
to  be  countenanced  by  any  fair  construction  of  the 
permissions  under  which  its  transaction  of  the  ge- 
neral business  is  carried  on. 

The  answer  to  this  is,  that  the  supreme  law  of 
the  country  may  give  a  legal  or  artificial  capacity, 
(distinct  from  the  natural,)  to  one  or  more  persons, 
in  relation  to  the  objects  committed  to  the  manage- 
ment of  the  government :  in  other  words,  that  the 
government  has  sovereign  power  with  regard  to 
the  objects  confided  to  it ;  all  the  limitations  of  the 
constitution  having  relation  to  the  number  of  those 
objects.  This  was  Hamilton's  ground ;  and  this  is, 
I  believe,  the  ground  which  has  been  taken  since 
by  those  who  shared  his  opinions  on  the  main 


THE   CURRENCY.  275 

question.  To  me  it  appears  as  unsatisfactory  as 
any  other  mode  of  begging  the  question.  If  the 
power  of  making  corporations  is  to  be  assumed  by 
the  general  government,  on  the  ground  of  its  being 
implied,  the  whole  country  might  be  covered  with 
corporations,  to  which  should  be  entrusted  the 
discharge  of  any  function  exercised  by  the  general 
government. 

In  countries  differently  governed  from  the  United 
States,  it  appears  as  if  it  would  be  most  reason- 
able either  to  have  the  currency  made  a  national 
affair,  transacted  wholly  by  the  government,  on 
determined  principles,  or  to  leave  banking  entirely 
free.  In  neither  case,  probably,  would  the  evils  be 
so  great  as  those  which  have  happened  under  the 
mixture  of  the  two  systems.  But  in  the  United 
States,  the  committing  the  management  of  the 
currency  to  the  general  government  is  now  wholly 
out  of  the  question.  Free  banking  will  be  the 
method,  some  time  or  other ;  but  not  yet.  There 
is  not  yet  knowledge  enough  ;  nor  freedom  enough 
of  production  and  commerce  to  render  such  a 
policy  safe.  Meantime,  various  doctrines  are 
afloat.  Some  persons  are  for  no  banking  what- 
soever: but  mere  money-lending  by  individuals. 
Some  are  for  the  abolition  of  paper-money,  and 
the  establishment  of  one  public  bank  of  deposit 
and  transfer  in  each  State.  Some  are  for  private 


276  THE    CURRENCY. 

banking  only,  with  or  without  paper  money.  Some 
are  for  State  incorporations,  with  no  central  bank. 
Others  are  for  restoring  the  United  States  Bank. 

No  objections  against  banking  arid  paper-money 
altogether  will  avail  anything,  while  commerce  is 
conducted  on  its  present  principles.  It  answers  no 
practical  purpose  to  object  to  any  useful  thing  on 
the  ground  of  its  abuse :  and  while  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States  is  daily  on  the  increase,  and 
the  only  check  on  its  prosperity  is  the  want  of 
capital,  there  is  no  possibility  of  a  return  to  the 
use  of  private  money-lending  and  rouleaus. 

The  use  of  small  notes  may  well  and  easily  be 
discontinued.  The  experiment  has  been  tried 
with  success  in  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  prohibition,  might,  perhaps,  be  carried 
as  high  as  to  notes  of  twenty  dollars.  There  seems 
no  adequate  reason  for  the  public  being,  further 
than  this,  deprived  of  the  convenience  of  a  repre- 
sentative of  cash ;  a  convenience  so  great  that 
there  is  much  more  probability  that  the  ingenious 
Americans  will  devise  some  method  of  practically 
insuring  its  convertibility,  than  that  they  will  sur- 
render its  use.  It  has  often  occurred  to  me  that 
out  of  the  currency  troubles  of  the  United  States, 
might  arise  such  a  discovery  of  the  true  principle 
(which  yet  lies  hidden)  of  insuring  the  converti- 
bility, or  other  limitation,  of  a  paper  currency,  as 


THE    CURRENCY.  277 

may  be  a  blessing  to  the  whole  commercial  world. 
This  is  an  enterprise  worthy  of  their  ingenuity; 
and  one  which  seems  of  probable  achievement, 
when  we  remember  how  the  American  merchants 
are  pressed  for  capital,  and  how  all-important  to 
them  is  the  soundness  of  their  credit.  The  prin- 
ciple lies  somewhere,  if  it  could  but  be  found  :  and 
none  are  more  likely  to  discover  it  than  they. 

Private  banking  is,  in  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
necessary  and  inevitable ;  so  that  there  is  little  use 
in  arguments  for  or  against  it.  Capital  is  griev- 
ously wanted,  in  all  the  commercial  cities.  There 
must  be  some  place  of  resort  for  small  amounts, 
and  for  foreign  capital,  whence  money  may  issue  to 
supply  the  need  of  commercial  men.  There  must, 
in  other  words,  be  money  stores ;  and,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  others,  private  banks  must  serve  the  pur- 
pose. The  amount  of  good  or  harm  which,  in  the 
present  state  of  things,  they  are  able  to  do,  depends 
mainly  on  the  discretion  or  indiscretion  of  their 
customers;  who,  in  common  prudence,  must  look 
well  whom  they  trust. 

As  for  State  incorporations,  it  cannot  be  said 
that  they  are  absolutely  necessary ;  though  the  ar- 
guments in  favour  of  their  expediency  are  very 
strong.  More  and  more  money  is  perpetually  re- 
quired for  the  transaction  of  commercial  business ; 
and  in  a  different  ratio  from  that  required  by  the 


278  THE  CURRENCY. 

affairs  of  farmers  and  planters ;  since  the  latter 
receive  their  returns  quickly ;  while  the  merchants 
of  the  sea-board  have  theirs  delayed  for  long 
periods,  and  consequently  require  a  much  larger 
amount  of  capital.  These  larger  amounts  must 
come  mainly  from  abroad,  whence  money  can  be 
had  at  four  and  five  per  cent,  interest;  while  at 
home,  from  six  to  twelve  per  cent,  is  paid,  even 
while  foreign  capital  is  flowing  in.  It  is  obvious 
that  this  foreign  capital  will  enter  much  more 
abundantly  through  the  credit  of  a  State  bank  than 
through  private  banks.  Small  amounts  of  capital, 
dispersed  and  comparatively  unproductive,  will 
also  be  more  readily  brought  together,  to  be  applied 
where  most  needed,  in  a  State  bank,  than  among 
many  small  firms.  The  States  of  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  have  carried  on  their  improvements, 
their  canals  and  rail-roads,  as  well  as  much  of  their 
commerce,  by  means  of  foreign  capital ;  and  the 
surpassing  prosperity  of  those  States  may  be  con- 
sidered owing,  in  a  great  degree,  to  this  practice. 
The  incorporation  of  a  bank  is  not  always  to  be 
considered*  in  the  light  of  a  monopoly;  it  may  be 
the  reverse.  It  may  enable  a  number  of  indivi- 
duals, by  no  means  the  most  wealthy  in  the  com- 
munity, to  compete,  by  an  union  of  forces,  with  the 
most  wealthy.  Corporations  may  be  multiplied,  as 
occasion  arises,  and,  by  competition,  give  the  public 


THE    CURRENCY.  279 

the  benefit  of  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  ser- 
vice done  at  the  least  cost. 

Such  are  the  leading  arguments  in  favour  of 
State  Banks.  The  objections  to  them  are  in  part 
applicable  to  faulty  methods  of  incorporation,  and 
not  to  the  principle  itself.  The  special  exemption 
from  liabilities  to  which  individuals  are  subject; 
the  imposing  of  such  inhibitions  elsewhere  as  ren- 
der the  affair  a  monopoly ;  the  making  respon- 
sibility a  mere  abstraction,  are  great,  but  perhaps 
avoidable  evils.  So  are  the  methods  by  which 
charters  have  been  obtained  and  renewed;  the 
method  of  "  log-rolling "  bills  through  the  legis- 
lature ;  and  other  such  corruption.* 

An  objection  less  easily  disposed  of  is,  that  by 
the  creation  of  any  great  moneyed  power,  means 
are  afforded  of  controlling  the  fortunes  of  indivi- 
duals, and  of  influencing  the  press  and  the  political 
constituency.  If  these  objections  cannot  be  obvi- 
ated, they  are  fatal  to  banking  corporations.  If, 
however,  any  means  can  be  devised,  either  by 
causing  a  sufficient  publicity  of  proceedings,  or  by 


*  "  Log-rolling"  means  co-operation  for  a  point  which  must  be 
carried :  on  a  new  settlement  in  the  wilds,  by  neighbours  devoting 
a  day  to  fell,  roll  and  build  logs,  to  make  a  house  before  night :  in 
a  legislature,  by  a  coterie  of  members  urging  on  a  bill  in  which 
they  are  interested,  and  getting  it  passed  in  defiance  of  inquiry 
and  delay. 


280  THE    CURRENCY. 

granting  charters  for  a  short  term,  renewable  on 
strict  conditions,  or  by  any  other  plan  for  establish- 
ing a  true  responsibility,  of  uniting  the  benefits  of 
incorporated  banks  with  republican  principles,  it 
seems  as  if  it  would  be  a  great  benefit  to  all  parties 
in  the  community. 

The  difference  of  opinion  which  has  made  the 
most  noise  in  the  world4  is  about  a  National  Bank. 

It  appears  to  have  been  contemplated,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  place  the  currency  of  the  United 
States  under  the  control  of  the  general  govern- 
ment; according  to  the  spirit  of  the  provisions  of 
the  constitution,  that  Congress  should  have  power 
"to  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and 
of  foreign  coin :"  but  without  affording  to  Congress 
any  power  to  control  the  fortunes  of  individuals, 
as  may  be  done  by  certain  banking  operations. 
The  state  of  the  colonial  currency  had  been  de- 
plorable.* The  object  now  was  to  substitute  a 

*  I  have  before  me  a  collection  of  specimens  of  the  colonial,  and 
early  west  continental  paper  currency;  such  as  brought  ruin  to  all 
who  trusted  it.  The  colonial  notes  are  such  as  any  common  prin- 
ter might  forge.  For  instance,  here  is  one,  on  common  paper,  with 
a  border  of  stars,  and  within  it, 

"  Georgia,  1776. 

"  These  are  to  certify,  That  the  sum  of  SIXPENCE  sterling,  is  due 
from  this  Province  to  the  bearer  hereof,  the  same  being  part  of 
Twelve  Thousand  Five  Hundred  and  Seventy-two  Pounds  Nine- 


THE    CURRENCY.  281 

uniform  and  substantial  currency,  instead  of  the 
false  representatives  which  had  been  in  use :  and 
to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  States  to  alter 
the  terms  of  contracts  by  taking  advantage  of  the 
faults  of  the  currency.  Nobody  would  take  the 
continental  bills;  and  gold  and  silver  were  de- 
ficient. A  national  bank  was  the  resource;  and 
the  old  United  States  Bank  was  chartered  in  1791 ; 
it  being  ascertained  that  its  issues  were  based  on 
real  capital,  and  a  strict  watch  being  kept  over  its 
operations. 

This  bank  was  believed  to  be  wanted  for  another 
purpose; — to  watch  over  and  control  the  State 
Banks.  It  was  not  the  first  institution  of  the  kind 
in  the  United  States.  The  Bank  of  North  Ame- 
rica had  been  chartered  in  1781,  under  the  authority 
of  the  Continental  Congress :  but  by  soon  accept- 
ing a  charter  from  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania, 
it  ceased  to  be  a  national,  and  afforded  the  pre- 
cedent of  a  State  Bank.  New  York  and  Massa- 

teen  Shillings  Sterling,  voted  by  Provincial  Congress,  for  taking 
up  and  sinking  that  Sum  already  issued. 

6d." 

Those  of  the  early  days  of  the  war  have  on  the  back  emblems, 
varying  with  the  promissory  amount,  exhibiting  bows,  arrows, 
leaves  of  the  oak,  orange,  &c. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  argue  against  all  use  of  a  paper  currency 
from  such  specimens  as  these. 


282  THE    CURRENCY. 

chusetts  had  soon  State  Banks  also.  They  were 
prudently  conducted;  and  their  notes  presently 
banished  the  coin.  The  power  of  Congress  over 
the  currency  was  gone.  All  that  could  be  done 
now  was  for  the  National  Bank  to  control  the  State 
Banks,  and-  keep  their  issues  within  bounds,  as 
well  as  it  could. 

Occasional  disorders  happened  from  the  miscon- 
duct of  country  banks,  prior  to  181 1 .  The  renewal 
of  the  charter  of  the  United  States  Bank  was  then 
refused.  The  government  was  pressed  by  the  evils 
of  war ;  and  the  check  of  the  superintendence  of 
the  Bank  being  withdrawn,  the  local  banks,  out  of 
New  England,  came  to  the  agreement,  (too  sense- 
less to  be  ever  repeated,)  to  suspend  specie  pay- 
ments. All  issued  what  kind  and  quantity  of 
paper  pleased  themselves,  till  above  twice  the 
amount  of  money  needed  was  abroad;  and  the 
notes  were  in  some  States  five,  in  others  ten,  in 
others  twenty,  below  par.  The  New  England  peo- 
ple, meantime,  used  convertible  paper  only;  and 
under  the  law  which  provides  that  all  duties,  im- 
posts, and  excises  should  be  uniform  throughout 
the  States,  were  thus  compelled  to  pay  one  tenth 
more  to  the  revenue  officers  than  the  people  of 
New  York,  who  used  the  depreciated  currency : 
and  one-fifth  more  than  the  Baltimore  merchants. 

This  state  of  things  could  not  last.     A  national 


THE    CURRENCY.  283 

bank  was  again  established,  in  1816,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  controlling  the  local  banks.  Its  charter 
was  for  twenty  years,  with  a  capital  of  35,000,000 
dollars,  to  which  the  federal  government  subscribed 
one  fifth.  Its  notes  were  made  receivable  for  any 
debt  due  to  the  United  States. 

Its  purpose  was  presently  answered.  The  local 
banks  had,  in  three  years,  resumed  cash  payments. 
The  management  of  the  United  States  Bank,  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  its  term,  has  been,  upon  the  whole, 
prudent  and  moderate.  That  a  power  has  not 
been  abused  is  not,  however,  a  reason  for  its  con- 
tinued exercise,  if  it  be  really  unconstitutional. 
President  Jackson  thinks,  and  the  majority  thinks 
with  him,  that  it  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
constitution,  (as  it  is  certainly  unauthorised  by  its 
letter,)  that  any  institution  should  have  the  power, 
unchecked  for  a  long  term  of  years,  of  affecting  the 
affairs  of  individuals,  from  the  further  corners  of 
Maine  or  Missouri,  down  to  the  shores  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico ;  of  influencing  elections ;  of  biassing  the 
press ;  and  of  acting  strongly  either  with  or  against 
the  administration.  The  majority  considers,  that 
if  the  United  States  Bank  has  great  power  for 
good,  it  has  also  great  power  for  harm ;  and  that 
the  general  government  cannot  be  secure  of  work- 
ing naturally  in  its  limited  functions,  while  this 
great  power  subsists,  to  be  either  its  enemy  or  its 
ally. 


284  THE    CURRENCY. 

This  seems  to  be  proved  by  the  charges  brought 
against  the  late  Bank  by  President  Jackson.  Whe- 
ther they  are  true  or  false,  (and  the  gravest  of  them 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  substantiated,)  they 
indicate  that  power  is  in  the  hands  of  a  central  in- 
stitution, which  no  federal  establishment  ought  to 
have,  otherwise  than  by  the  express  permission  of 
the  constitution. 

As  for  President  Jackson's  mode  of  proceeding 
against  the  Bank, — it  is  an  affair  of  merely  tem- 
porary interest,  unless  he  should  be  found  to  have 
exceeded  the  authority  conferred  on  him  by  his 
office.  He  does  seem  to  have  done  so,  in  one  par- 
ticular, at  least.  His  first  declaration  against  the 
renewal  of  the  charter,  was  honest  and  manly. 
His  re-election,  after  having  made  this  avowal, 
was  a  sufficient  evidence  of  the  desire  of  the 
majority  to  extinguish  the  Bank.  It  was,  no 
doubt,  in  reliance  on  the  will  of  the  majority,  thus 
indicated,  that  the  President  removed  the  deposits 
in  a  peculiarly  high-handed  manner ;  and  also  ex- 
ercised the  veto,  when  the  two  Houses  had  passed 
a  bill  to  renew  the  charter  of  the  United  States 
Bank. 

With  the  last  of  these  measures,  no  one  has  any 
right  to  quarrel.  He  exercised  a  constitutional 
power,  according  to  his  long-declared  convictions. 
His  sudden  removal  of  the  deposits  is  not  to  be  so 
easily  justified. 


THE    CURRENCY.  285 

The  President  has  the  power  of  removing  his 
Secretaries  from  office,  and  of  appointing  others, 
whose  appointment  must  be  sanctioned  by  the 
Senate.  The  Secretaries  of  State  are  enjoined  by 
law  to  execute  such  orders  as  shall  be  imposed  on 
them  by  the  President  of  the  United  States : — all 
the  Secretaries  but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
In  his  case,  no  such  specification  is  made;  obvi- 
ously because  it  would  not  be  wise  to  put  the 
whole  power  of  the  Treasury  into  the  hands  of  the 
President.  President  Jackson,  however,  contrived 
to  obtain  this  power  by  using  with  adroitness  his 
other  power  of  removal  from  office.  Mr.  Duane 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  the 
29th  of  May,  1833;  his  predecessor  having  been 
offered  a  higher  office.  It  is  known  that  the  pre- 
decessor had  given  his  opinion  in  the  cabinet 
against  removing  the  Treasury  deposits  from  the 
Bank ;  and  that  Mr.  Duane  was  an  acknowledged 
enemy  of  the  Bank.  On  the  3rd  of  June,  the  Pre- 
sident opened  to  the  new  Secretary  his  scheme  of 
removing  the  deposits.  Mr.  Duane  was  opposed 
to  the  act,  as  being  a  violation  of  the  government 
contract  with  the  Bank.  He  refused  to  sign  the 
necessary  order.  While  he  was  still  in  office,  on 
the  20th  of  September,  the  intended  removal  of  the 
deposits  was  announced  in  the  government  news- 
paper. On  the  23rd,  Mr.  Duane  was  dismissed 


286  THE    CURRENCY. 

from  office ;  and  Mr.  Taney,  who  had  previously 
promised  to  sign  the  order,  was  installed  in  the 
office.  On  the  26th,  the  official  order  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  deposits  was  given.  No  plea  of  im- 
pending danger  to  the  national  funds,  if  such  could 
have  been  substantiated,  could  justify  so  high- 
handed a  deed  as  this.  No  such  plea  has  been 
substantiated ;  and  the  act  remains  open  to  strong 
censure. 

Just  before  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  the 
United  States  Bank  accepted  a  charter  from  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania.  It  remains  to  be 
seen  what  effects  will  arise  from  the  operation  of 
the  most  powerful  State  Bank  which  has  yet  ex- 
isted. 

The  problem  now  is  to  keep  a  sound  currency, 
in  the  absence  of  an  institution,  believed  to  be  un- 
constitutional, but  hitherto  found  the  only  means 
of  establishing  order  and  safety  in  this  most  im- 
portant branch  of  economy.  Here  is  a  deficiency, 
which  cannot  but  be  the  cause  of  much  evil  and 
perplexity.  It  must  be  supplied,  either  by  increased 
knowledge  and  improved  philosophy  and  practice 
among  the  people,  or  by  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution.  Meanwhile,  it  is  only  time  and 
energy  lost  to  insist  upon  the  return  to  a  mere 
metallic  currency.  Society  cannot  be  set  back  to 
a  condition  which  could  dispense  with  so  great  an 


THE    CURRENCY.  287 

improvement  as  paper-money,  with  all  its  abuses, 
undoubtedly  is. 

The  singular  order  which  last  year  emanated 
from  the  Treasury,  compelling  the  payments  for 
the  public  lands  to  be  made  in  specie,  will  not  have 
the  effect  of  making  the  people  in  love  with  a  me- 
tallic currency.  If  this  measure  is  intended  to  be 
an  obstacle  to  the  purchase  of  large  quantities  of 
land,  or  virtually  to  raise  the  price, — these  are 
affairs  with  which  the  Treasury  has  nothing  to  do. 
If  it  is  intended  merely  to  compel  cash  payments, 
as  far  as  the  administration  has  power  to  do  so,  it 
seems  a  pity  that  those  who  undertake  to  meddle 
with  the  currency  should  not  know  better  what 
they  are  about.  The  scarcity  of  money  in  the 
eastern  States  has  been  well  nigh  ruinous ;  while 
large  amounts  of  specie  have  been  accumulated  in 
the  west,  where  they  are  not  wanted. 

The  mischief  thus  caused  has  been  much  in- 
creased by  the  injudicious  method  in  which  the 
deposits  have  been  distributed  among  the  States, 
according  to  the  Deposit  Bill  of  the  session  of  1836. 
The  details  of  the  extraordinary  state  of  the  money- 
market  in  America,  last  year,  are  too  well  known 
on  both  sides  of  the  water,  to  need  to  be  repeated 
here. 

One  principle  stands  out  conspicuously  from  the 
history  of  the  last  few  years :  that  no  President  or 


288       REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURE. 

Secretary  should  be  allowed  the  opportunity  of 
"  taking  the  responsibility"  of  meddling  with  the 
currency  of  the  country :  in  other  words,  the  taxa- 
tion should  be  reduced,  as  soon  as  in  equity  and 
convenience  it  can  be  done,  so  as  to  bring  down  the 
revenue  to  a  proportion  with  the  wants  of  the  go- 
vernment. If  the  general  government  is  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  currency  at  all,  it  should 
be  by  such  business  being  made  a  separate  consti- 
tutional function.  To  let  the  Treasury  overflow, — 
and  leave  its  overflowings  to  be  managed  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  one  public  servant,  removable  by  one 
other,  is  a  policy  as  absurd  as  dangerous.  The  most 
obvious  security  lies,  not  in  multiplying  checks  upon 
the  officers,  but  in  reducing  the  overflowings  of  the 
Treasury  to  the  smallest  possible  amount.  This 
is  President  Jackson's  last  recorded  opinion  on  the 
subject  It  appears  worthy  to  be  kept  on  record. 


SECTION  II. 

REVENUE    AND    EXPENDITURE. 

There  is  less  to  be  said  on  this  head  than  would 
be  possible   in  any  other  country.      When  it   is 


REVENUE    AND    EXPENDITURE.  289 

known  that  the  United  States  are  troubled  with  the 
large  surplus  revenue  accruing  from  the  sale  of  the 
public  lands,  the  whole  story  is  told.  The  stranger 
will  hear  much  lamentation  in  the  Senate  about  the 
increase  of  the  public  expenses,  and  will  see  Hon. 
Members  looking  as  solemn  as  if  the  nation  were 
sinking  into  a  gulf  of  debt :  but  the  fear  and  com- 
plaint are,  not  of  the  expenditure  of  money,  but  of 
the  increase  of  executive  patronage. 

The  Customs  are  the  chief  source  of  the  revenue 
of  the  general  government.  They  are  in  course  of 
reduction,  year  by  year.  The  next  great  resource 
is  the  sale  of  the  public  lands.  This  may  be  called 
inexhaustible ;  so  large  is  the  area  yet  unoccupied, 
and  so  increasing  the  influx  of  settlers. 

This  happy  country  is  free  from  the  infliction  of 
an  excise  system ;  an  exemption  which  goes  far 
towards  making  it  the  most  desirable  of  all  places 
of  residence  for  manufacturers  who  value  practical 
freedom  in  the  management  of  their  private  con- 
cerns, and  honesty  among  their  work-people.  The 
brewer  and  glass-manufacturer  see  the  tax-gathe- 
rer's face  no  oftener  than  other  men.  The  Post- 
Office  establishment  in  America  is  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  people,  and  not  for  purposes  of  taxation  ; 
and  every  one  is  satisfied  if  it  pays  its  own  expenses. 
A  small  sum  is  yielded  by  patent  fees ;  and  also  by 
the  mint.  Lighthouse -tolls  constitute  another  item. 


290  REVENUE    AND    EXPENDITURE. 

But  all  these  united  are  trifling  in  comparison  with 
the  revenue  yielded  from  the  two  great  sources,  the 
Customs  and  the  Public  Lands.* 

The  expenditures  of  the  general  government  are 
for  salaries,  pensions,  (three  or  four  hundred 
pounds,)  territorial  governments,  the  mint,  surveys, 
and  improvements,  the  census  and  other  public 
documents,  and  the  military  and  naval  establish- 
ments. 

The  largest  item  in  the  civil  list  is  the  pay- 
ment to  Members  of  Congress,  who  receive  eight 
dollars  per  day,  for  the  session,  and  their  travelling 
expenses.  The  President's  salary  is  25,000  dollars. 
The  Vice-president's  5,000.  Each  of  the  Secre- 
taries of  State,  and  the  Postmaster-general's,  6,000. 
The  Attorney-general's,  4,000. 

The  seven  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  are 
salaried  with  the  same  moderation  as  other  mem- 
bers of  the  federal  government.  The  Chief  Justice 
has  5,000  dollars ;  the  six  Associate  Judges  4,500 
each. 

The  Commissioned  Officers  of  the  United  States 
army  were,  in  1835,  674.  Non-commissioned  Of- 
ficers and  Privates,  7,547.  Total  of  the  United 
States  army,  8,221. 

In  the  navy,  there  were,  in  1835,  37  Captains 
and  40  Masters-commandant.  The  navy  consisted 

*  See  Appendix  13. 


REVENUE    AND    EXPENDITURE,  291 

of  12  ships  of  the  line;  14  first-class  frigates;  3 
second-class;  15  sloops  of  war;  8  schooners  and 
other  small  vessels  of  war. 

The  revenue  and  expenditure  of  most  of  the 
States  are  so  small  as  to  make  the  annual  financial 
statement  resemble  the  account-books  of  a  private 
family.  The  land  tax,  the  proportion  of  which 
varies  in  every  State,  is  the  chief  source  of  revenue. 
Licenses,  fines,  and  tolls,  yield  other  sums.  In 
South  Carolina,  there  is  a  tax  on  free  people  of 
colour ! 

The  highest  salary  that  I  find  paid  to  the  govern- 
ment of  a  State  is  4,000  dollars,  (New  York  and 
Pennsylvania;)  the  lowest,  400  dollars,  (Rhode 
Island.)  The  other  expenses,  besides  those  of 
government,  are  for  the  defence  of  the  State,  (in 
Pennsylvania,  about  forty  pounds  !)  for  education, 
(two  thousand  pounds,  in  Pennsylvania,  the  same 
year,)  prisons,  pensions,  and  state  improvements.* 

Such  is  the  financial  condition  of  a  people  of 
whom  few  are  individually  very  wealthy  or  very 
poor ;  who  all  work ;  and  who  govern  themselves, 
appointing  one  another  to  manage  their  common 
affairs.  They  have  had  every  advantage  that  na- 
ture and  circumstances  could  give  them;  and  no- 
thing to  combat  but  their  own  necessary  inexpe- 

*  See  Appendix  B. 

o  2 


292       REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURE. 

rience.  As  long  as  the  State  expenditure  for  defence 
bears  the  proportion  to  education  of  407.  to  2,000/., 
and  on  to  80,000/.,  (the  amount  of  the  school-tax, 
now,  in  Massachusetts,)  all  is  safe  and  promising. 
There  is  great  virtue  in  figures,  dull  as  they  are  to 
all  but  the  few  who  love  statistics  for  the  sake  of 
what  they  indicate.  Those  which  are  cited  above 
disclose  a  condition  and  a  prospect  in  the  presence 
of  which  all  fears  for  the  peace  and  virtue  of  the 
States  are  shamed.  Men  who  govern  themselves 
and  each  other  with  such  moderate  means,  and  for 
such  unimpeachable  objects,  are  no  more  likely  to 
lapse  into  disorder  than  to  submit  to  despotism. 


293 


CHAPTER  V. 


MORALS  OF  ECONOMY. 


"  Andyet  of  your  strength  there  is  and  can  be  no  clear  feeling,  save 
by  what  you  have  prospered  in,  by  what  you  have  done.  Between 
vague,  wavering  capability,  and  fixed,  indubitable  performance, 
what  a  difference  !  A  certain  inarticulate  self-consciousness  dwells 
dimly  in  us ;  which  only  our  works  can  render  articulate,  and  de- 
cisively discernible.  Our  works  are  the  mirror  wherein  the  spirit 
first  sees  its  natural  lineaments.  Hence,  too,  the  folly  of  that  im- 
possible precept '  know  thyself,'  till  it  be  translated  into  this  par- 
tially possible  one,  '  know  what  thou  canst  work  at.' " 

Sartor  Resartus,  p.  166.  Boston  Edition. 

THE  glory  of  the  world  passeth  away.  One  kind 
of  worldly  glory  passes  away,  and  another  comes. 
Like  a  series  of  clouds  sailing  by  the  moon,  and 
growing  dim  and  dimmer  as  they  go  down  the  sky, 
are  the  transitory  glories  which  are  only  brightened 
for  an  age  by  man's  smile :  dark  vapours,  which 


294  MORALS    OF   ECONOMY. 

carry  no  light  within  themselves.  How  many  such 
have  floated  across  the  expanse  of  history,  and  melted 
away  !  It  was  once  a  glory  to  have  a  power  of  life 
and  death  over  a  patriarchal  family  :  and  how  mean 
does  this  now  appear,  in  comparison  with  the  power 
of  life  and  death  which  every  man  has  over  his  own 
intellect !  It  was  once  a  glory  to  be  feared  :  how 
much  better  is  it  now  esteemed  to  be  loved  !  It  was 
once  a  glory  to  lay  down  life  to  escape  from  one's 
personal  woes  :  how  far  higher  is  it  now  seen  to  be 
to  accept  those  woes  as  a  boon,  and  to  lay  down  life 
only  for  truth ; — for  God  and  not  for  self !  The 
heroes  of  mankind  were  once  its  kings  and  warriors : 
we  look  again  now,  and  find  its  truest  heroes  its 
martyrs,  its  poets,  its  artisans;  men  not  buried 
under  pyramids  or  in  cathedrals,  but  whose  sepul- 
chre no  man  knoweth  unto  this  day.  To  them  the 
Lord  showed  the  land  of  promise,  and  then  buried 
them  on  the  confines.  There  are  two  aspects  under 
which  every  individual  man  may  be  regarded :  as  a 
solitary  being,  with  inherent  powers,  and  an  omni- 
potent will;  a  creator,  a  king,  an  inscrutable  mys- 
tery: and  again,  as  a  being  infinitely  connected 
with  all  other  beings,  with  none  but  derived  powers, 
with  a  heavenly-directed  will ;  a  creature,  a  subject, 
a  transparent  medium  through  which  the  workings 
of  principles  are  to  be  eternally  revealed.  Both 
these  aspects  are  true,  and  therefore  reconcilable. 


MORALS   OF   ECONOMY.  295 

The  Old  World  dwelt  almost  exclusively  on  the  first 
and  meaner  aspect :  as  men  rise  to  inhabit  the  new 
heavens  and  the  new  earth,  they  will  more  and 
more  contemplate  the  other  and  sublimer.  The  old 
glory  of  a  self-originating  power  and  will  is  passing 
away :  and  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  plain  that 
a  man's  highest  honour  lies  in  becoming  as  clear  a 
medium  as  possible  for  the  revelations  which  are  to 
be  made  through  him :  in  wiping  out  every  stain, 
in  correcting  every  flaw  by  which  the  light  that  is 
in  him  may  be  made  dimness  or  deception.  It  was 
once  a  glory  to  defy  or  evade  the  laws  of  man's  phy- 
sical and  moral  being ;  and,  in  so  doing,  to  encroach 
upon  the  rights  of  others :  it  is  now  beginning  to  be 
shown  that  there  is  a  higher  honour  in  recognis- 
ing and  obeying  the  laws  of  outward  and  inward  life, 
and  in  reverencing  instead  of  appropriating  the  pri- 
vileges of  other  wards  of  Providence. 

In  other  words,  it  was  once  a  glory  to  be  idle, 
and  a  shame  to  work, — at  least  with  any  member 
or  organ  but  one, — the  brain.  Yet  it  is  a  law  of 
every  man's  physical  nature  that  he  should  work 
with  the  limbs :  of  every  man's  moral  nature,  that 
he  should  know :  and  knowledge  is  to  be  had  only 
by  one  method ;  by  bringing  the  ideal  and  the  actual 
world  into  contact,  and  proving  each  by  the  other, 
with  one's  own  brain  and  hands  for  instruments,  and 
not  another's.  There  is  no  actual  knowledge  even 


296  MORALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

of  one's  own  life,  to  be  had  in  any  other  way.  Yet 
this  is  the  way  which  men  have  perversely  refused 
to  acknowledge,  while  every  one  is  more  or  less 
compelled  to  practise  it.  Those  who  have  been 
able  to  get  through  life  with  the  least  possible  work 
have  been  treated  as  the  happiest :  those  who  have 
had  the  largest  share  imposed  upon  them  have  been 
passively  pitied  as  the  most  miserable.  If  the  ex- 
perience of  the  two  could  have  been  visibly  or  tan- 
gibly brought  into  comparison,  the  false  estimate 
would  have  been  long  ago  banished  for  ever  from 
human  calculations.  If  princes  and  nobles,  who 
have  not  worked  either  in  war  or  in  council,  men 
sunk  in  satiety ;  if  women,  shut  out  of  the  world  of 
reality,  and  compelled  by  usage  to  endure  the  cor- 
rosion of  unoccupied  thought,  and  the  decay  of 
unemployed  powers,  were  able  to  speak  fully  and 
truly  as  they  sink  into  their  unearned  graves,  it 
would  be  found  that  their  lives  had  been  one  hollow 
misery,  redeemed  solely  by  that  degree  of  action 
that  had  been  permitted  to  them,  in  order  that  they 
might,  in  any  wise,  live.  If  the  half-starved  artisan, 
if  the  negro  slave,  could,  when  lying  down  at  length 
to  rest,  see  and  exhibit  the  full  vision  of  their  own 
lives,  they  would  complain  far  less  of  too  much  work 
than  of  too  little  freedom,  too  little  knowledge,  too 
many  wounds  through  their  affections  to  their  chil- 
dren, their  brethren,  their  race.  They  would  com- 


MORALS    OF    ECONOMY.  297 

plain  that  their  work  had  been  of  too  exclusive  a 
kind ;  too  much  in  the  actual,  while  it  had  been 
attempted  to  close  the  ideal  from  them.  Nor  are 
their  cases  alike.  The  artisan  works  too  much  in 
one  way,  while  too  little  in  another.  The  negro 
slave  suffers  too  much  by  infliction,  and  yet  more 
by  privation;  but  he  rarely  or  never  works  too 
much,  even  with  the  limbs.  He  knows  the  evil  of 
toil,  the  reluctance,  the  lassitude ;  but  with  it  he 
knows  also  the  evil  of  idleness;  the  vacuity,  the 
hopelessness.  He  has  neither  the  privilege  of  the 
brute,  to  exercise  himself  vigorously  upon  instinct, 
for  an  immediate  object,  to  be  gained  and  forgotten; 
nor  the  privilege  of  the  man,  to  toil,  by  moral 
necessity,  with  some  pain,  for  results  which  yield 
an  evergrowing  pleasure.  It  is  not  work  which  is 
the  curse  of  the  slave  :  he  is  rarely  so  blessed  as  to 
know  what  it  is. 

If,  again,  the  happiest  man  who  has  ever  lived 
on  earth,  (excepting  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  whose 
depth  of  peace  no  one  will  attempt  to  fathom,) 
could,  in  passing  into  the  busier  life  to  come,  (to 
which  the  present  is  only  the  nursery  mimicking  of 
human  affairs,)  communicate  to  us  what  has  been 
the  true  blessedness  of  his  brief  passage,  it  would 
be  fdund  to  lie  in  what  he  had  been  enabled  to  do : 
not  so  much  blessed  in  regard  to  others  as  to  him- 
self; not  so  much  because  he  had  made  inventions, 

o  5 


298  MORALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

(even  such  a  one  as  printing:)  not  so  much  be- 
cause through  him  countries  will  be  better  govern- 
ed, men  better  educated,  and  some  light  from  the 
upper  world  let  down  into  the  lower ;  (for  great 
things  as  these  are,  they  are  sure  to  be  done,  if  not 
by  him,  by  another;)  but  because  his  actual  doing, 
his  joint  head  and  hand-work  have  revealed  to  him 
the  truth  which  lies  about  him  ;  and  so  far,  and  by 
the  only  appointed  method,  invested  him  with  hea- 
ven while  he  was  upon  earth.  Such  a  one  might 
not  be  conscious  of  this  as  the  chief  blessedness  of 
his  life,  (as  men  are  ever  least  conscious  of  what 
is  highest  and  best  in  themselves  :)  he  might  put  it 
in  another  form,  saying  that  mankind  were  grow- 
ing wiser  and  happier,  or  that  goodness  and  mercy 
had  followed  him  all  the  days  of  his  life,  or  that  he 
had  found  that  all  evil  is  only  an  aspect  of  ultimate 
good:  in  some  such  words  of  faith  or  hope  he 
would  communicate  his  inward  peace :  but  the  real 
meaning  of  the  true  workman,  if  spoken  for  him 
by  a  divine  voice,  (as  spoken  by  the  divine  voice  of 
his  life,)  is,  as  has  been  said,  that  his  complete  toil 
has  enriched  him  with  truth  which  can  be  no 
otherwise  obtained,  and  which  neither  the  world, 
nor  any  one  in  it,  except  himself,  could  give, 
nor  any  power  in  heaven  or  earth  could  take 
away. 

Mankind  becomes    more   clear-sighted  to   this 


MORALS    OF   ECONOMY.  299 

fact  about  honour  and  blessedness,  as  time  unfolds 
the  sequence  of  his  hieroglyphic  scroll ;  and  a 
transition  in  the  morals  and  manners  of  nations 
is  an  inevitable  consequence,  slow  as  men  are  in 
deciphering  the  picture-writing  of  the  old  teacher ; 
unapt  as  men  are  in  connecting  picture  with  pic- 
ture, so  as  to  draw  thence  a  truth,  and  in  the 
truth,  a  prophecy.  We  must  look  to  new  or  reno- 
vated communities  to  see  how  much  has  been 
really  learned. 

The  savage  chief,  who  has  never  heard  the 
saying  "  he  that  -would  be  chief  among  you,  let 
him  be  your  servant,"  feels  himself  covered  with 
glory  when  he  paces  along  in  his  saddle,  gorgeous 
with  wampum  and  feathers,  while  his  squaw  fol- 
lows in  the  dust,  bending  under  the  weight  of 
his  shelter,  his  food,  and  his  children.  Wise  men 
look  upon  him  with  all  pity  and  no  envy.  Higher 
and  higher  in  society,  the  right  of  the  strongest 
is  supposed  to  involve  honour :  and  physical 
is  placed  at>ove  moral  strength.  The  work  of 
the  limbs,  wholly  repulsive  when  separated  from 
that  of  the  head,  is  devolved  upon  the  weaker, 
who  cannot  resist ;  and  hence  arises  the  disgrace 
of  work,  and  the  honour  of  being  able  to  keep  soul 
and  body  together,  more  or  less  luxuriously,  with- 
out it.  The  barbaric  conqueror  makes  his  cap- 
tives work  for  him.  His  descendants,  who  have  no 


300  MORALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

prisoners  of  war  to  make  slaves  of,  carry  off  cap- 
tives of  a  helpless  nation,  inferior  even  to  them- 
selves in  civilisation.  The  servile  class  rises,  by 
almost  imperceptible  degrees,  as  the  dawn  of  rea- 
son brightens  towards  day.  The  classes  by  whom 
the  hand-work  of  society  is  done,  arrive  at  being 
cared  for  by  those  who  do  the  head-work,  or  no 
work  at  all :  then  they  are  legislated  for,  but  still 
as  a  common  or  inferior  class,  favoured,  out  of  pure 
bounty,  with  laws,  as  with  soup,  which  are  pro- 
nounced "  excellent  for  the  poor :  "  then  they  be- 
gin to  open  their  minds  upon  legislation  for  them- 
selves ;  and  a  certain  lip-honour  is  paid  them 
which  would  be  rejected  as  insult  if  offered  to  those 
who  nevertheless  think  themselves  highly  merito- 
rious in  vouchsafing  it. 

This  is  the  critical  period  out  of  which  must 
arise  a  new  organisation  of  society.  When  it 
comes  to  this,  a  new  promise  blossoms  under  the 
feet  of  the  lovers  of  truth.  There  are  many  of  the 
hand-workers  now  who  are  on  the  very  borders  of 
the  domain  of  head-work :  and,  as  the  encroach- 
ments of  those  who  work  not  at  all  have,  by  this 
time,  become  seriously  injurious  to  the  rights  of 
others,  there  are  many  thinkers  and  persons  of 
learning  who  are  driven  over  the  line,  and  become 
hand-workers ;  for  which  they,  as  they  usually  af- 
terwards declare,  can  never  be  sufficiently  thankful. 


MORALS    OF   ECONOMY.  301 

There  is  no  drowning  the  epithalamium  with  which 
these  two  classes  celebrate  the  union  of  thought  and 
handicraft.  Multitudes  press  in,  or  are  carried  in  to 
the  marriage  feast,  and  a  new  era  of  society  has  be- 
gun. The  temporary  glory  of  ease  and  disgrace  of  la- 
bour pass  away  like  mountain  mists,  and  the  clear 
sublimity  of  toil  grows  upon  men's  sight. 

If,  in  such  an  era,  a  new  nation  begins  its  career, 
what  should  be  expected  from  it  ? 

If  the  organisation  of  its  society  were  a  matter 
of  will ;  if  it  had  a  disposable  moral  force,  appli- 
cable to  controllable  circumstances,  it  is  probable 
that  the  new  nation  would  take  after  all  old  na- 
tions, and  not  dare  to  make,  perhaps  not  dream  of 
making,  the  explicit  avowal,  that  that  which  had 
ever  hitherto  been  a  disgrace,  except  in  the  eyes  of 
a  very  few  prophets,  had  now  come  out  to  be  a 
clear  honour.  This  would  be  more,  perhaps,  than 
even  a  company  of  ten  or  fifteen  millions  of  men 
and  women  would  venture  to  declare,  while  such 
words  as  Quixotic,  Revolutionary,  Utopian,  remain 
on  the  tongues  which  wag  the  most  industriously 
in  the  old  world.  But,  it  so  happens  it  is  never 
in  the  power  of  a  whole  nation  to  meet  in  conven- 
tion, and  agree  what  their  moral  condition  shall  be. 
They  may  agree  upon  laws  for  the  furtherance  of 
what  is  settled  to  be  honourable,  and  for  the  exclu- 
sion of  some  of  the  law-bred  disgraces  of  the  old 
world :  but  it  is  not  in  their  power  to  dispense  at 


302  MORALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

will  the  subtle  radiance  of  moral  glory,  any  more 
than  to  dye  their  scenery  with  rainbow  hues  be- 
cause they  have  got  hold  of  a  prism.  Moral  per- 
suasions grow  out  of  preceding  circumstances,  as 
institutions  do ;  and  conviction  is  not  communica- 
ble where  the  evidence  is  not  of  a  communicable 
kind.  The  advantage  of  the  new  nation  over 
the  old  will  be  no  more  than  that  its  individual 
members  are  more  open  to  conviction,  from  being 
more  accessible  to  evidence,  less  burdened  with 
antique  forms  and  institutions,  and  partial  privi- 
leges, so  called.  The  result  will  probably  be  that 
some  members  of  the  new  society  will  follow  the 
ancient  fashion  of  considering  work  a  humiliation ; 
while,  upon  the  whole,  labour  will  be  more  honour- 
ed than  it  has  ever  been  before. 

America  is  in  the  singular  position  of  being 
nearly  equally  divided  between  a  low  degree  of  the 
ancient  barbarism  in  relation  to  labour,  and  a  high 
degree  of  the  modern  enlightenment.  Wherever 
there  is  a  servile  class,  work  is  considered  a  dis- 
grace, unless  it  bears  some  other  name,  and  is  of 
an  exclusive  character.  In  the  free  States,  labour 
is  more  really  and  heartily  honoured  than,  perhaps, 
in  any  other  part  of  the  civilised  world.  The 
most  extraordinary,  and  least  pleasant  circumstance 
in  the  case  is  that,  while  the  south  ridicules  and 
despises  the  north  for  what  is  its  very  highest  ho- 
nour, the  north  feels  somewhat  uneasy  and  sore 


MORALS    OF   ECONOMY.  303 

under  the  contempt.  It  is  true  that  it  is  from  ne- 
cessity that  every  man  there  works  ;  but,  whatever 
be  the  cause,  the  fact  is  a  noble  one,  worthy  of 
all  rejoicing :  and  it  were  to  be  wished  that  the 
north  could  readily  and  serenely,  at  all  times,  and 
in  disregard  of  all  jibes,  admit  the  fact,  as  matter  for 
thankfulness,  that  there  every  man  works  for  his 
bread  with  his  own  head  and  hands. 

How  do  the  two  parties  in  reality  spend  their 
days  ? 

In  the  north,  the  children  all  go  to  school,  and 
work  there,  more  or  less.  Asthey  grow  up,  they  part 
off  into  the  greatest  variety  of  employments.  The 
youths  must,  without  exception,  work  hard ;  or  they 
had  better  drown  themselves.  Whether  they  are 
to  be  lawyers,  or  otherwise  professional ;  or  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  farmers,  or  citizens,  they 
have  everything  to  do  for  themselves.  A  very  large 
proportion  of  them  have,  while  learning  their  fu- 
ture business,  to  earn  the  means  of  learning.  There 
is  much  manual  labour  in  the  country  colleges ; 
much  teaching  in  the  vacations  done  by  students. 
Many  a  great  man  in  Congress  was  seen  in  his 
boyhood  leading  his  father's  horses  to  water;  and, 
in  his  youth,  guiding  the  plough  in  his  father's 
field.  There  is  probably  hardly  a  man  in  New 
England  who  cannot  ride,  drive,  and  tend  his  own 
horse  ;  scarcely  a  clergyman,  lawyer,  or  physician, 


304  MO  HALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

who,  if  deprived  of  his  profession,  could  not  sup- 
port himself  by  manual  labour.  Nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  there  any  farmer  or  citizen  who  is  not, 
more  or  less,  a  student  and  thinker.  Not  only  are 
all  capable  of  discharging  their  political  duty  of 
self-government ;  but  all  have  somewhat  idealised 
their  life.  All  have  looked  abroad,  at  least  so  far 
as  to  understand  the  foreign  relations  of  their  own 
country :  most,  I  believe,  have  gone  further,  and 
can  contemplate  the  foreign  relations  of  their  own 
being.  Some  one  great  mind,  at  least,  has  almost 
every  individual  entered  into  sympathy  with ; 
some  divine,  or  politician,  or  poet,  who  has  carried 
the  spirit  out  beyond  the  circle  of  home,  State,  and 
country,  into  the  ideal  world.  It  is  even  possible 
to  trace,  in  the  conversation  of  some  who  have  the 
least  leisure  for  reading,  the  influence  of  some  one 
of  the  rich  sayings,  the  diamonds  and  pearls  which 
have  dropped  from  the  lips  of  genius,  to  shine  in 
the  hearts  of  all  humanity.  Some  one  such  saying 
may  be  perceived  to  have  moulded  the  thoughts, 
and  shaped  the  aims,  and  become  the  under-cur- 
rent of  the  whole  life  of  a  thinking  and  labouring 
man.  Such  sayings  being  hackneyed  signifies 
nothing,  while  the  individuals  blessed  by  them  do 
not  k-now  it,  and  hold  them  in  their  inmost  hearts, 
unvexed  by  hearing  them  echoed  by  careless 
tongues.  "  Am  I  not  a  man  and  a  brother?" 


MORALS    OF    ECONOMY.  305 

"  Happy  the  man  whose  wish  and  care,"  &c.  "  The 
breaking  waves  dashed  high,"  &c.  (Mrs.  Hemans's 
Landing  of  the  Pilgrims,)  "  What  shadows  we  are, 
and  what  shadows  we  pursue,"  (Burke) — these  are 
some  of  the  words  which,  sinking  deep  into  the 
hearts  of  busy  men,  spring  up  in  a  harvest  of 
thoughts  and  acts. 

There  are  a  few  young  men,  esteemed  the  least 
happy  members  of  the  community,  who  inherit 
wealth.  The  time  will  come,  when  the  society  is 
somewhat  older,  when  it  will  be  understood  that 
wealth  need  not  preclude  work:  but  at  present, 
there  are  no  individuals  so  forlorn,  in  the  northern 
States,  as  young  men  of  fortune.  Men  who  have 
shown  energy  and  skill  in  working  their  way  in 
society  are  preferred  for  political  representatives : 
there  is  no  scientific  or  literary  class,  for  such 
individuals  to  fall  into:  all  the  world  is  busy 
around  them,  and  they  are  reduced  to  the  predi- 
cament, unhappily  the  most  dreaded  of  all  in  the 
United  States,  of  standing  alone.  Their  method, 
therefore,  is  to  spend  their  money  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible, and  begin  the  world  like  other  men.  I 
am  stating  this  as  matter  of  fact ;  not  as  being 
reasonable  and  right. 

.^  As  for  the  women  of  the  northern  States,  most 
have  the  blessing  of  work,  though  not  of  the  ex- 
tent and  variety  which  will  hereafter  be  seen  to  be 


306  MORALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

necessary  for  the  happiness  of  their  lives.  All 
married  women,  except  the  ladies  of  rich  mer- 
chants and  others,  are  liable  to  have  their  hands 
full  of  household  occupation,  from  the  uncertainty 
of  domestic  service;  a  topic  to  be  referred  to 
hereafter.  Women  who  do  not  marry  have,  in 
many  instances,  to  work  for  their  support ;  and,  as 
will  be  shown  in  another  connexion,  under  peculiar 
disadvantages.  Work,  on  the  whole,  may  be  con- 
sidered the  rule,  and  vacuity  the  exception.* 

*  In  testimony  of  the  fact  that  the  working  people  of  this  re- 
gion are  thinkers  too,  I  subjoin  a  note  written  by  the  wife  of  a 
village  mechanic,  who  is  a  fair  specimen  of  her  class. 

"  SIR, — Nothing  but  a  consciousness  of  my  own  incompetency 
to  form  a  just  opinion  on  a  question  of  such  magnitude,  and  one 
too  which  involves  consequences  as  remote  from  my  personal  ob- 
servation, as  the  immediate,  or  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves, 
has,  for  some  time,  prevented  my  being  an  acknowledged  abo- 
litionist. With  the  Divine  precepts  before  me,  which  require  us 
to  love  our  neighbour  as  ourselves,  and  '  whatsoever  we  would 
that  others  should  do  to  us,'  etc.  etc.,  instructed  and  admonished 
too  by  the  feelings  of  common  humanity,  I  cannot  hesitate  to  pro- 
nounce the  system  of  slavery  an  outrageous  violation  of  the  re- 
quirements of  God,  and  a  lawless  and  cruel  invasion  of  the  rights 
of  our  fellow  men.  In  this  view  of  it,  I  am  not  able  to  under- 
stand how  it  can  be  persisted  in,  without  setting  at  defiance  the 
dictates  of  reason  and  conscience,  and  what  is  of  more  importance, 
the  uncompromising  authority  of  Scripture,  the  arguments  of  wise 
and  talented  men  to  the  contrary,  notwithstanding.  The  most 
superficial  observer  cannot  fail  to  discern,  in  the  universal  interest 
and  agitation,  which  prevail  on  this  subject,  a  prelude  to  some 


MORALS    OF   ECONOMY.  307 

What  is  life  in  the  slave  States,  in  respect  of 
work? 

There  are  two  classes,  the  servile  and  the  im- 
perious, between  whom  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed. 
The  servile  class  has  not  even  the  benefit  of  hearty 
toil.  No  solemn  truths  sink  down  into  them,  to 
cheer  their  hearts,  stimulate  their  minds,  and  nerve 
their  hands.  Their  wretched  lives  are  passed  be- 
tween an  utter  debasement  of  the  will,  and  a  con- 
flict of  the  will  with  external  force. 

The  other  class  is  in  circumstances  as  unfa- 
vourable as  the  least  happy  order  of  persons  in  the 
old  world.  The  means  of  educating  children  are 
so  meagre*  that  young  people  begin  life  under 
great  disadvantages.  The  vicious  fundamental 
principle  of  morals  in  a  slave  country,  that  labour 
is  disgraceful,  taints  the  infant  mind  with  a  stain 
which  is  as  fatal  in  the  world  of  spirits  as  the  negro 
tinge  is  at  present  in  the  world  of  society.  It 
made  my  heart  ache  to  hear  the  little  children  un- 

mighty  revolution.  If  this  '  war  of  words'  is  the  worst  that  will 
precede  or  accompany  it,  I  shall  be  happily  disappointed.  With 
these  feelings,  sir,  you  will  readily  believe  the  assurance,  that  I 
have  been  greatly  interested,  and  instructed,  in  reading  the  mild, 
comprehensive,  intelligent  '  lecture,'  of  your  lamented  brother." 

*  See  Appendix  C  :  an  admirable  sketch  by  a  resident  of 
Charleston,  of  the  interior  of  a  planter's  family.  It  unconsciously 
bears  out  all  that  can  be  said  of  the  educational  evils  of  the  exist- 
ing state  of  society  in  the  south. 


308  MORALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

consciously  uttering  thoughts  with  which  no  true 
religion,  no  true  philosophy  can  coexist.  "  Do  you 
think  /  shall  work  ?"  "  O,  you  must  not  touch  the 
poker  here."  "  You  must  not  do  this  or  that  for 
yourself:  the  negroes  will  be  offended,  and  it  won't 
do  for  a  lady  to  do  so."  "  Poor  thing  !  she  has  to 
teach  :  if  she  had  come  here,  she  might  have  mar- 
ried a  rich  man,  perhaps."  "  Mamma  has  so  much 
a-year  now,  so  we  have  not  to  do  our  work  at 
home,  or  any  trouble.  'Tis  such  a  comfort !" — 
When  children  at  school  call  everything  that  pleases 
them  "  gentlemanly,"  and  pity  all  (but  slaves)  who 
have  to  work,  and  talk  of  marrying  early  for  an 
establishment,  it  is  all  over  with  them.  A  more 
hopeless  state  of  degradation  can  hardly  be  con- 
ceived of,  however  they  may  ride,  and  play  the 
harp,  and  sing  Italian,  and  teach  their  slaves  what 
they  call  religion. 

"  Poor  things  !"  may  be  said  of  such,  in  return. 
They  know  little,  with  their  horror  of  work,  of 
what  awaits  them.  Theirs  is  destined  to  be,  if 
their  wish  of  an  establishment  is  fulfilled,  a  life  of 
toil,  irksome  and  unhonoured.  They  escape  the 
name ;  but  they  are  doomed  to  undergo  the  worst 
of  the  reality.  Their  husbands  are  not  to  be  envied, 
though  they  do  ride  on  white  horses,  (the  slave's 
highest  conception  of  bliss,)  lie  down  to  repose  in 
hot  weather,  and  spend  their  hours  between  the 


MORALS    OF    ECONOMY.  309 

discharge  of  hospitality  and  the  superintendence 
of  their  estates;  and  the  highly  honourable  and 
laborious  charge  of  public  affairs.  But  the  wives 
of  slave-holders  are,  as  they  and  their  husbands 
declare,  as  much  slaves  as  their  negroes.  If  they 
will  not  have  everything  go  to  rack  and  ruin  around 
them,  they  must  superintend  every  household  ope- 
ration, from  the  cellar  to  the  garrets  :  for  there  is 
nothing  that  slaves  can  do  well.  While  the  slaves 
are  perpetually  at  one's  heels,  lolling  against  the 
bed-posts  before  one  rises  in  the  morning,  standing 
behind  the  chairs,  leaning  on  the  sofa,  officiously 
undertaking,  and  invariably  spoiling  everything 
that  one  had  rather  do  for  one's-self,  the  smallest 
possible  amount  of  real  service  is  performed.  The 
lady  of  the  house  carries  her  huge  bunch  of  keys, 
(for  every  consumable  thing  must  be  locked  up,) 
and  has  to  give  out,  on  incessant  requests,  what- 
ever is  wanted  for  the  household.  She  is  for  ever 
superintending,  and  trying  to  keep  things  straight, 
without  the  slightest  hope  of  attaining  anything 
like  leisure  and  comfort.  What  is  there  in  re- 
tinue, in  the  reputation  of  ease  and  luxury,  which 
can  compensate  for  toils  and  cares  of  this  nature  ? 
How  much  happier  must  be  the  lot  of  a  village 
milliner,  or  of  the  artisan's  wife  who  sweeps  her 
own  floors,  and  cooks  her  husband's  dinner,  than 
that  of  the  planter's  lady  with  twenty  slaves  to  wait 


310  MORALS    OF    ECONOMY. 

upon  her ;  her  sons  migrating  because  work  is  out 
of  the  question,  and  they  have  not  the  means  to 
buy  estates;  and  her  daughters  with  no  better 
prospect  than  marrying,  as  she  has  done,  to  toil  as 
she  does ! 

Some  few  of  these  ladies  are  among  the  strongest- 
minded  and  most  remarkable  women  I  have  ever 
known.  There  are  great  draw-backs,  (as  will  be 
seen  hereafter,)  but  their  mental  vigour  is  occa- 
sionally proportioned  to  their  responsibility.  Women 
who  have  to  rule  over  a  barbarous  society,  (small 
though  it  be,)  to  make  and  enforce  laws,  provide 
for  all  the  physical  wants,  and  regulate  the  entire 
habits  of  a  number  of  persons  who  can  in  no  re- 
spect take  care  of  themselves,  must  be  strong  and 
strongly  disciplined,  if  they  in  any  degree  discharge 
this  duty.  Those  who  shrink  from  it  become  per- 
haps the  weakest  women  I  have  anywhere  seen  : 
selfishly  timid,  humblingly  dependent,  languid  in 
body,  and  with  minds  of  no  reach  at  all.  These 
two  extremes  are  found  in  the  slave  States,  in  the 
most  striking  opposition.  It  is  worthy  of  note, 
that  I  never  found  there  a  woman  strong  enough 
voluntarily  to  brave  the  woes  of  life  in  the  pre- 
sence of  slavery ;  nor  any  woman  weak  enough  to 
extenuate  the  vices  of  the  system;  each  knowing, 
prior  to  experience,  what  those  woes  and  vices 
are. 


MORALS   OF   ECONOMY.  311 

There  are  a  few  unhappy  persons  in  the  slave 
States,  too  few,  I  believe,  to  be  called  a  class,  who 
strongly  exemplify  the  consequences  of  .such  a 
principle  of  morals  as  that  work  is  a  disgrace. 
There  are  a  few,  called  by  the  slaves  "  mean 
whites ;"  signifying  whites  who  work  with  the 
hands.  Where  there  is  a  coloured  servile  class, 
whose  colour  has  become  a  disgrace  through  their 
servitude,  two  results  are  inevitable:  that  those 
who  have  the  colour  without  the  servitude  are 
disgraced  among  the  whites ;  and  those  who  have 
the  servitude  without  the  colour  are  as  deeply  dis- 
graced among  the  coloured.  More  intensely  than 
white  work-people  are  looked  down  upon  at  Port- 
au-Prince,  are  the  "  mean  whites"  despised  by  the 
slaves  of  the  Carolinas.  They  make  the  most,  of 
course,  of  the  only  opportunity  they  can  ever  have 
of  doing  what  they  see  their  superiors  do, — despis- 
ing their  fellow-creatures.  No  inducement  would 
be  sufficient  to  bring  honest,  independent  men  into 
the  constant  presence  of  double-distilled  hatred  and 
contempt  like  this ;  and  the  general  character  of 
the  "  mean  whites"  may  therefore  be  anticipated. 
They  are  usually  men  who  have  no  prospect,  no 
chance  elsewhere ;  the  lowest  of  the  low. 

When  I  say  that  no  inducement  would  be  suffi- 
cient, I  mean  no  politic  inducement.  There  are 
inducements  of  the  same  force  as  those  which  drew 


312  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

martyrs  of  old  into  the  presence  of  savage  beasts 
in  the  amphitheatre,  which  guided  Howard  through 
the  gloom  of  prisons,  and  strengthened  Guyon  of 
Marseilles  to  offer  himself  a  certain  victim  to  the 
plague, — there  are  inducements  of  such  force  as 
this  which  carry  down  families  to  dwell  in  the  midst 
of  contempt  and  danger,  where  everything  is  lost 
but, — the  one  object  which  carries  them  there. 
"  Mean  whites"  these  friends  of  the  oppressed 
fugitive  may  be  in  the  eyes  of  all  around  them ; 
but  how  they  stand  in  the  eye  of  One  whose  thoughts 
are  not  as  our  thoughts,  may  some  day  be  revealed. 
To  themselves  it  is  enough  that  their  object  is 
gained.  They  do  not  want  praise;  they  are  above 
it:  and  they  have  shown  that  they  can  do  without 
sympathy.  It  is  enough  to  commend  them  to  their 
own  peace  of  heart. 


SECTION  I. 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 


This  title  is  not  written  down  in  a  spirit  of 
mockery ;  though  there  appears  to  be  a  mockery 
somewhere,  when  we  /contrast  slavery  with  the 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  313 

principles  and  the  rule  which  are  the  test  of  all 
American  institutions  :— the  principles  that  all  men 
are  born  free  and  equal ;  that  rulers  derive  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed;  and 
the  rule  of  reciprocal  justice.  This  discrepancy 
between  principles  and  practice  needs  no  more 
words.  But  the  institution  of  slavery  exists ;  and 
what  we  have  to  see  is  what  the  morals  are  of  the 
society  which  is  subject  to  it. 

What  social  virtues  are  possible  in  a  society  of 
which  injustice  is  the  primary  characteristic?  in  a 
society  which  is  divided  into  two  classes,  the  servile 
and  the  imperious  ? 

The  most  obvious  is  Mercy.  Nowhere,  perhaps, 
can  more  touching  exercises  of  mercy  be  seen  than 
here.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  greater 
number  of  slave-holders  have  no  other  idea  than  of 
holding  slaves,  Their  fathers  did  it :  they  them- 
selves have  never  known  the  coloured  race  treated 
otherwise  than  as  inferior  beings,  born  to  work  for 
and  to  teaze  the  whites;  helpless,  improvident, 
open  to  no  higher  inducements  than  indulgence 
and  praise ;  capable  of  nothing  but  entire  de- 
pendence. The  good  affections  of  slave-holders 
like  these  show  themselves  in  the  form  of  mercy ; 
which  is  as  beautiful  to  witness  as  mercy,  made  a 
substitute  for  justice,  can  ever  be.  I  saw  endless 
manifestations  of  mercy,  as  well  as  of  its  opposite. 


314  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

The  thoughtfulness  of  masters,  mistresses,  and  their 
children  about,  not  only  the  comforts,  but  the  in- 
dulgences of  their  slaves,  was  a  frequent  subject  of 
admiration  with  me.  Kind  masters  are  liberal  in 
the  expenditure  of  money,  and  (what  is  better)  of 
thought,  in  gratifying  the  whims  and  fancies  of 
their  negroes.  They  make  large  sacrifices  occa- 
sionally for  the  social  or  domestic  advantage  of 
their  people;  and  use  great  forbearance  in  the 
exercise  of  the  power  conferred  upon  them  by  law 
and  custom. 

At  the  time  when  the  cholera  was  ravaging  South 
Carolina,  a  wealthy  slave-holder  there  refused  to 
leave  the  State,  as  most  of  his  neighbours  were 
doing.  He  would  not  consent  to  take  any  further 
care  of  himself  than  riding  to  a  distance  from  his 
plantation  (then  overrun  by  the  disease)  to  sleep. 
All  day  he  was  among  his  slaves :  nursing  them 
with  his  own  hands ;  putting  them  into  the  bath, 
giving  them  medicine  himself,  and  cheering  their 
spirits  by  his  presence  and  his  care.  He  saved 
them  almost  all.  No  one  will  suppose  this  one  of 
the  ordinary  cases  where  a  master  has  his  slaves 
taken  care  of  as  property,  not  as  men.  Sordid 
considerations  of  that  kind  must  have  given  way 
before  the  terrors  of  the  plague.  A  far  higher 
strength  than  that  of  self-interest  was  necessary  to 
carry  this  gentleman  through  such  a  work  as  this  ; 
and  it  was  no  other  than  mercy. 


MORALS   OF   SLAVERY.  315 

Again :— a  young  man,  full  of  the  southern  pride, 
one  of  whose  aims  is  to  have  as  great  a  display  of 
negroes  as  possible,  married  a  young  lady  who, 
soon  after  her  marriage,  showed  an  imperious  and 
cruel  temper  towards  her  slaves.  Her  husband 
gently  remonstrated.  She  did  not  mend.  He 
warned  her,  that  he  would  not  allow  beings,  for 
whose  comfort  he  was  responsible,  to  be  oppressed; 
and  that,  if  she  compelled  him  to  it,  he  would  de- 
prive her  of  the  power  she  misused.  Still  she  did 
not  mend.  He  one  day  came  and  told  her  that  he 
had  sold  all  his  domestic  slaves,  for  their  own  sakes. 
He  told  her  that  he  would  always  give  her  money 
enough  to  hire  free  service,  when  it  was  to  be  had; 
and  that  when  it  was  not,  he  would  cheerfully  bear, 
and  help  her  to  bear,  the  domestic  inconveniences 
which  must  arise  from  their  having  no  servants. 
He  kept  his  word.  It  rarely  happens  that  free 
service  can  be  hired ;  and  this  proud  gentleman 
assists  his  wife's  labours  with  his  own  hands  ;  arid 
(what  is  more)  endures  with  all  cheerfulness  the 
ignominy  of  having  no  slaves. 

Nothing  struck  me  more  than  the  patience  of 
slave-owners.  In  this  virtue  they  probably  surpass 
the  whole  Christian  world ;— I  mean  in  their  patience 
with  their  slaves  ;  for  one  cannot  much  praise  their 
patience  with  the  abolitionists,  or  with  the  tariff; 
or  in  some  other  cases  of  political  vexation.  When 

p  2 


316  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

I  considered  how  they  love  to  be  called  "  fiery 
southerners,"  I  could  not  but  marvel  at  their  mild 
forbearance  under  the  hourly  provocations  to  which 
they  are  liable  in  their  homes.*  It  is  found  that 
such  a  degree  of  this  virtue  can  be  obtained  only 
by  long  habit.  Persons  from  New  England, 
France,  or  England,  becoming  slave-holders,  are 
found  to  be  the  most  severe  masters  and  mistresses, 
however  good  their  tempers  may  always  have  ap- 
peared previously.  They  cannot,  like  the  native 
proprietor,  sit  waiting  half  an  hour  for  the  second 
course,  or  see  everything  done  in  the  worst  pos- 
sible manner;  their  rooms  dirty,  their  property 
wasted,  their  plans  frustrated,  their  infants  slighted, 
themselves  deluded  by  artifices, — they  cannot,  like 
the  native  proprietor,  endure  all  this  unruffled.  It 
\  seems  to  me  that  every  slave-holder's  temper  is 
j  subjected  to  a  discipline  which  must  either  ruin  or 
1  perfect  it.  While  we  know  that  many  tempers  are 

*  I  went  with  a  lady  in  whose  house  I  was  staying  to  dine,  one 
Sunday,  on  a  neighbouring  estate.  Her  husband  happened  not  to 
be  with  us,  as  he  had  to  ride  in  another  direction.  The  carriage 
was  ordered  for  eight  in  the  evening.  It  drew  up  to  the  door  at 
six  ;  and  the  driver,  a  slave,  said  his  master  had  sent  him,  and 
begged  we  would  go  home  directly.  We  did  so,  and  found  my 
host  very  much  surprised  to  see  us  home  so  early.  The  message 
was  a  fiction  of  the  slave's,  who  wanted  to  get  his  horses  put  up, 
that  he  might  enjoy  his  Sunday  evening.  His  master  and  mis- 
tress laughed,  and  took  no  further  notice. 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  317 

thus  ruined,  and  must  mourn  for  the  unhappy 
creatures  who  cannot  escape  from  their  tyranny,  it 
is  evident,  on  the  other  hand,  that  many  tempers 
are  to  be  met  with  which  should  shame  down  and 
silence  for  ever  the  irritability  of  some  whose  daily 
life  is  passed  under  circumstances  of  comparative 
ease. 

This  mercy,  indulgence,  patience,  was  often 
pleaded  to  me  in  defence  of  the  system,  or  in  ag- 
gravation of  the  faults  of  intractable  slaves.  The 
fallacy  of  this  is  so  gross  as  not  to  need  exposure 
anywhere  but  on  the  spot.  I  was  heart-sick  of 
being  told  of  the  ingratitude  of  slaves,  and  weary  of 
explaining  that  indulgence  can  never  atone  for  in- 
jury :  that  the  extremest  pampering,  for  a  life-time, 
is  no  equivalent  for  rights  withheld,  no  repara- 
tion for  irreparable  injustice.  What  are  the  greatest 
possible  amounts  of  finery,  sweetmeats,  dances, 
gratuities,  and  kind  words  and  looks,  in  exchange 
for  political,  social,  and  domestic  existence  ?  for 
body  and  spirit  ?  Is  it  not  true  that  the  life  .is 
more  than  meat,  and  the  body  than  raiment? 

This  fallacious  plea  was  urged  upon  me  by  three 
different  persons,  esteemed  enlightened  and  reli- 
gious, in  relation  to  one  case.  The  case  was  this. 
A  lady  of  fortune  carried  into  her  husband's  esta- 
blishment, when  she  married,  several  slaves,  and 
among  them  a  girl  two  years  younger  than  herself, 


318  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

who  had  been  brought  up  under  her,  and  who  was 
employed  as  her  own  maid.  The  little  slaves  are  ac- 
customed to  play  freely  with  the  children  of  the  fa- 
mily— a  practice  which  was  lauded  to  me,  but  which 
never  had  any  beauty  in  my  eyes,  seeing,  as  I  did, 
the  injury  to  the  white  children  from  unrestricted 
intercourse  with  the  degraded  race,  and  looking  for- 
ward as  I  did  to  the  time  when  they  must  separate 

into  the  servile  and  imperious.  Mrs. had  been 

unusually  indulgent  to  this  girl,  having  allowed 
her  time  and  opportunity  for  religious  and  other 
instruction,  and  favoured  her  in  every  way.  One 
night,  when  the  girl  was  undressing  her,  the  lady 
expressed  her  fondness  for  her,  and  said,  among 

f  other  things  :  "  When  I  die  you  shall  be  free ;" — a 
dangerous  thing  to  say  to  a  slave  only  two  years 
younger  than  herself.  In  a  short  time  the  lady 
was  taken  ill, — with  a  strange,  mysterious  illness, 
which  no  doctor  could  alleviate.  One  of  her  friends, 
who  suspected  foul  play,  took  the  sufferer  entirely 
under  her  own  charge,  when  she  seemed  to  be 
dying.  She  revived ;  and  as  soon  as  she  was  well 
enough  to  have  a  will  of  her  own  again,  would  be 
waited  on  by  no  one  but  her  favourite  slave.  She 
grew  worse.  She  alternated  thus,  for  some  time, 
according  as  she  was  under  the  care  of  this  slave 
or  of  her  friend.  At  last,  the  friend  excluded  from 

I  her  chamber  every  one  but  the  physicians :  took  in 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  319 

the  medicines  at  the  room  door  from  the  hands! 
of  the  slave,  and  locked  them  up.  They  were 
all  analysed  by  a  physician,  and  arsenic  found j 
in  every  one  of  them.  The  lady  partially  reco- 
vered ;  but  I  was  shocked  at  the  traces  of  suffering 
in  her  whole  appearance.  The  girl's  guilt  was 
brought  clearly  home  to  her.  There  never  was  a 
case  of  more  cruel,  deliberate  intention  to  murder. 
If  ever  slave  deserved  the  gallows,  (which  ought  to 
be  questionable  to  the  most  decided  minds,)  this 
girl  did.  What  was  done  ?  The  lady  was  tender- 
hearted, and  could  not  bear  to  have  her  hanged. 
This  was  natural  enough ;  but  what  did  she  there- 
fore do  ?  keep  her  under  her  own  eye,  that  she 
might  at  least  poison  nobody  else,  and  perhaps  be 
touched  and  reclaimed  by  the  clemency  of  the  per- 
son she  would  have  murdered  ?  No.  The  lady 
sold  her. 

I  was  actually  called  upon  to  admire  the  lady's 
conduct ;  and  was  asked  whether  the  ingratitude  of 
the  girl  was  not  inconceivable,  and  her  hypocrisy 
too ;  for  she  used  to  lecture  her  mistress  and  her 
mistress's  friends  for  being  so  irreligious  as  to  go 
to  parties  on  Saturday  nights,  when  they  should 
have  been  preparing  their  minds  for  Sunday.  Was 
not -the  hypocrisy  of  the  girl  inconceivable?  and 
her  ingratitude  for  her  mistress's  favours  ?  No.  The 
girl  had  no  other  idea  of  religion, — could  have  no 


320  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

other  than  that  it  consists  in  observances,  and, 
wicked  as  she  was,  her  wickedness  could  not  be 
called  ingratitude,  for  she  was  more  injured  than 
favoured,  after  all.  All  indulgences  that  could  be 
heaped  upon  her  were  still  less  than  her  due,  and 
her  mistress  remained  infinitely  her  debtor. 

Little  can  be  said  of  the  purity  of  manners  of  the 
/whites  of  the  south ;  but  there  is  purity.  Some 
few  examples  of  domestic  fidelity  may  be  found : 
few  enough,  by  the  confession  of  residents  on  the 
spot ;  but  those  individuals  who  have  resisted  the 
contagion  of  the  vice  amidst  which  they  dwell  are 
pure.  Every  man  who  resides  on  his  plantation 
may  have  his  harem,  and  has  every  inducement  of 
custom,  and  of  pecuniary  gain,*  to  tempt  him  to 
the  common  practice.  Those  who,  notwithstanding, 
keep  their  homes  undefiled  may  be  considered  as 
s^  of  incorruptible  purity. 

Here,  alas !  ends  my  catalogue  of  the  virtues 
which  are  of  possible  exercise  by  slave-holders  to- 
wards their  labourers.  The  inherent  injustice  of 
the  system  extinguishes  all  others,  and  nourishes 
a  whole  harvest  of  false  morals  towards  the  rest  of 
society. 

The  personal  oppression  of  the  negroes  is  the 

*  The  law  declares  that  the  children  of  slaves  are  to  follow  the 
fortunes  of  the  mother.  Hence  the  practice  of  planters  selling 
and  bequeathing  their  own  children. 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  321 

grossest  vice  which  strikes  a  stranger  in  the  coun- 
try. It  can  never  be  otherwise  when  human  beings 
are  wholly  subjected  to  the  will  of  other  human 
beings,  who  are  under  no  other  external  control 
than  the  law  which  forbids  killing  and  maiming  ;— 
a  law  which  it  is  difficult  to  enforce  in  individual 
cases.  A  fine  slave  was  walking  about  in  Colum- 
bia, South  Carolina,  when  I  was  there,  nearly  help- 
less and  useless  from  the  following  causes.  His 
master  was  fond  of  him,  and  the  slave  enjoyed  the 
rare  distinction  of  never  having  been  flogged.  One 
day,  his  master's  child,  supposed  to  be  under  his 
care  at  the  time,  fell  down  and  hurt  itself.  The 
master  flew  into  a  passion,  ordered  the  slave  to  be 
instantly  flogged,  and  would  not  hear  a  single  word  . 
the  man  had  to  say.  As  soon  as  the  flogging  was 
over,  the  slave  went  into  the  back  yard,  where  there 
was  an  axe  and  a  block,  and  struck  off  the  upper 
half  of  his  right  hand-  He  went  and  held  up  the 
bleeding  hand  before  his  master,  saying,  "  You 
have  mortified  me,  so  I  have  made  myself  useless. 
Now  you  must  maintain  me  as  long  as  I  live."  It 
came  out  that  the  child  had  been  under  the  charge 
of  another  person. 

There  are,  as  is  well  known  throughout  the 
country,  houses  in  the  free  States  which  are  open 
to  fugitive  slaves,  and  where  they  are  concealed 
till  the  search  for  them  is  over.  I  know  some  of 

p  5 


322  MORALS    OF   SLAVERY. 

the  secrets  of  such  places ;  and  can  mention  two 
cases,  among  many,  of  runaways,  which  show  how 
horrible  is  the  tyranny  which  the  slave  system  au- 
thorises men  to  inflict  on  each  other.  A  negro  had 
found  his  way  to  one  of  these  friendly  houses  ;  and 
had  been  so  skilfully  concealed,  that  repeated 
searches  by  his  master,  (who  had  followed  for  the 
purpose  of  recovering  him,)  and  by  constables,  had 
been  in  vain.  After  three  weeks  of  this  se- 
clusion, the  negro  became  weary,  and  entreated  of 
his  host  to  be  permitted  to  look  out  of  the  window. 
His  host  strongly  advised  him  to  keep  quiet,  as  it 
was  pretty  certain  that  his  master  had  not  given 
him  up.  When  the  host  had  left  him,  however,  the 
negro  came  out  of  his  hiding-place,  and  went  to  the 
window.  He  met  the  eye  of  his  master,  who  was 
looking  up  from  the  street.  The  poor  slave  was 
obliged  to  return  to  his  bondage. 

A  young  negress  had  escaped  in  like  manner  ; 
was  in  like  manner  concealed  ;  and  was  alarmed  by 
constables,  under  the  direction  of  her  master,  en- 
tering the  house  in  pursuit  of  her,  when  she  had 
had  reason  to  believe  that  the  search  was  over.  She 
flew  up  stairs  to  her  chamber  in  the  third  story,  and 
drove  a  heavy  article  of  furniture  against  the  door. 
The  constables  pushed  in,  notwithstanding,  and  the 
girl  leaped  from  the  window  into  the  paved  street. 
Her  master  looked  at  her  as  she  lay,  declared  she 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.         .  323 

would  never  be  good  for  anything  again,  and  went 
back  into  the  south.  The  poor  creature,  her  body 
bruised,  and  her  limbs  fractured,  was  taken  up,  and 
kindly  nursed ;  and  she  is  now  maintained  in  Bos- 
ton, in  her  maimed  condition,  by  the  charity  of 
some  ladies  there. 

The  following  story  has  found  its  way  into  the 
northern  States  (as  few  such  stories  do)  from  the 
circumstance  that  a  New  Hampshire  family  are 
concerned  in  it.  It  has  excited  due  horror  wher- 
ever it  is  known ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will 
lead  to  the  exposure  of  more  facts  of  the  same 
kind,  since  it  is  but  too  certain  that  they  are 
common. 

A  New  Hampshire  gentleman  went  down  into 
Louisiana,  many  years  ago,  to  take  a  plantation. 
He  pursued  the  usual  method ;  borrowing  money 
largely  to  begin  with,  paying  high  interest,  and 
clearing  off  his  debt,  year  by  year,  as  his  crop« 
were  sold.  He  followed  another  custom  there; 
taking  a  Quadroon  wife :  a  mistress,  in  the  eye  of 
the  law,  since  there  can  be  no  legal  marriage  be- 
tween whites  and  persons  of  any  degree  of  colour  : 
but,  in  nature  and  in  reason,  the  woman  he  took 
home  was  his  wife.  She  was  a  well-principled, 
amiable,  well-educated  woman ;  and  they  lived 
happily  together  for  twenty  years.  She  had  only 
the  slightest  possible  tinge  of  colour.  Knowing 


324  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  law  that  the  children  of  slaves  are  to  follow 
the  fortunes  of  the  mother,  she  warned  her  hus- 
band that  she  was  not  free,  an  ancestress  having 
been  a  slave,  and  the  legal  act  of  manumission 
having  never  been  performed.  The  husband  pro- 
mised to  look  to  it :  but  neglected  it.  At  the  end 
of  twenty  years,  one  died,  and  the  other  shortly 
followed,  leaving  daughters ;  whether  two  or  three, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  with  positive 
certainty;  but  I  have  reason  to  believe  three,  of 
the  ages  of  fifteen,  seventeen,  and  eighteen  :  beau- 
tiful girls,  with  no  perceptible  mulatto  tinge.  The 
brother  of  their  father  came  down  from  New 
Hampshire  to  settle  the  affairs;  and  he  supposed, 
as  every  one  else  did,  that  the  deceased  had  been 
wealthy.  He  was  pleased  with  his  nieces,  and 
promised  to  carry  them  back  with  him  into  New 
Hampshire,  and  (as  they  were  to  all  appearance 
perfectly  white)  to  introduce  them  into  the  society 
which  by  education  they  were  fitted  for.  It  ap- 
peared, however,  that  their  father  had  died  insol- 
vent. The  deficiency  was  very  small :  but  it  was 
necessary  to  make  an  inventory  of  the  effects,  to 
deliver  to  the  creditors.  This,  was  done  by  the 
brother, — the  executor.  Some  of  the  creditors 
called  on  him,  and  complained  that  he  had  not  de- 
livered in  a  faithful  inventory.  He  declared  he 
had.  No :  the  number  of  slaves  was  not  accurately 


MORALS    OF   SLAVERY.  325 

set  down:  he  had  omitted  the  daughters.  The 
executor  was  overwhelmed  with  horror,  and  asked 
time  for  thought.  He  went  round  among  the  cre- 
ditors, appealing  to  their  mercy :  but  they  answered 
that  these  young  ladies  were  "  a  first-rate  article," 
too  valuable  to  be  relinquished.  He  next  offered, 
(though  he  had  himself  six  children,  and  very  little 
money,)  all  he  had  for  the  redemption  of  his 
nieces ;  alleging  that  it  was  more  than  they  would 
bring  in  the  market  for  house  or  field  labour. 
This  was  refused  with  scorn.  It  was  said  that 
there  were  other  purposes  for  which  the  girls  would 
bring  more  than  for  field  or  house  labour.  The 
uncle  was  in  despair,  and  felt  strongly  tempted  to 
wish  their  death  rather  than  their  surrender  to 
such  a  fate  as  wras  before  them.  He  told  them, 
abruptly,  what  was  their  prospect  He  declares 
that  he  never  before  beheld  human  grief;  never 
before  heard  the  voice  of  anguish.  They  never 
ate,  nor  slept,  nor  separated  from  each  other,  till 
the  day  when  they  were  taken  into  the  New  Or- 
leans slave-market.  There  they  were  sold,  sepa- 
rately, at  high  prices,  for  the  vilest  of  purposes: 
and  where  each  is  gone,  no  one  knows.  They  are, 
for  the  present,  lost.  But  they  will  arise  to  the 
light  in  the  day  of  retribution. 

It  is  a  common  boast  in  the  south  that  there  is 
less  vice  in  their  cities  than  in  those  of  the  north. 
This  can  never,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  have  been  as- 


326  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

certained;  as  the  proceedings  of  slave  households 
are,  or  may  be,  a  secret :  and  in  the  north,  what 
licentiousness  there  is  may  be  detected.  But  such 
comparisons  are  bad.  Let  any  one  look  at  the 
positive  licentiousness  of  the  south,  and  declare  if, 
in  such  a  state  of  society,  there  can  be  any  security 
for  domestic  purity  and  peace.  The  Quadroon 
connexions  in  New  Orleans  are  all  but  universal, 
as  I  was  assured  on  the  spot  by  ladies  who  cannot 
be  mistaken.  The  history  of  such  connexions  is  a 
melancholy  one :  but  it  ought  to  be  made  known 
while  there  are  any  who  boast  of  the  superior  mo- 
rals of  New  Orleans,  on  account  of  the  decent 
quietness  of  the  streets  and  theatres. 

The  Quadroon  girls  of  New  Orleans  are  brought 
/  up  by  their  mothers  to  be  what  they  have  been ; 
the  mistresses  of  white  gentlemen.  The  boys  are 
some  of  them  sent  to  France ;  some  placed  on  land 
in  the  back  of  the  State ;  and  some  are  sold  in  the 
slave-market.  They  marry  women  of  a  somewhat 
darker  colour  than  their  own ;  the  women  of  their 
own  colour  objecting  to  them,  "  ils  sont  si  degou- 
tants  !"  The  girls  are  highly  educated,  externally, 
and  are,  probably,  as  beautiful  and  accomplished  a 
set  of  women  as  can  be  found.  Every  young  man 
early  selects  one,  and  establishes  her  in  one  of 
those  pretty  and  peculiar  houses,  whole  rows  of 
which  may  be  seen  in  the  Remparts.  The 
connexion  now  and  then  lasts  for  life:  usually 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  327 

for  several  years.  In  the  latter  case,  when  the 
time  comes  for  the  gentleman  to  take  a  white  wife, 
the  dreadful  news  reaches  his  Quadroon  partner, 
either  by  a  letter  entitling  her  to  call  the  house 
and  furniture  her  own,  or  by  the  newspaper  which 
announces  his  marriage.  The  Quadroon  ladies 
are  rarely  or  never  known  to  form  a  second  con- 
nexion. Many  commit  suicide :  more  die  broken- 
hearted. Some  men  continue  the  connexion  after 
marriage.  Every  Quadroon  woman  believes  that 
her  partner  will  prove  an  exception  to  the  rule  of 
desertion.  Every  white  lady  believes  that  her  hus- 
band has  been  an  exception  to  the  rule  of  seduction. 

What  security  for  domestic  purity  and  peace 
there  can  be  where  every  man  has  had  two  con- 
nexions, one  of  which  must  be  concealed ;  and  two 
families,  whose  existence  must  not  be  known  to 
each  other ;  where  the  conjugal  relation  begins  in 
treachery,  and  must  be  carried  on  with  a  heavy 
secret  in  the  husband's  breast,  no  words  are  needed 
to  explain.  If  this  is  the  system  which  is  boasted 
of  as  a  purer  than  ordinary  state  of  morals,  what  is 
to  be  thought  of  the  ordinary  state  ?  It  can  only 
be  hoped  that  the  boast  is  an  empty  one. 

There  is  no  occasion  to  explain  the  management 
of  the  female  slaves  on  estates  where  the  object  is  to 
rear  as  many  as  possible,  like  stock,  for  the  south- 
ern market :  nor  to  point  out  the  boundless  licen- 


3'28  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

tiousness  caused  by  the  practice  :  a  practice  which 
wrung  from  the  wife  of  a  planter,  in  the  bitterness 
of  her  heart,  the  declaration  that  a  planter's  wife 
was  only  "the  chief  slave  of  the  harem."  Mr. 
Madison  avowed  that  the  licentiousness  of  Vir- 
ginian plantations  stopped  just  short  of  destruction ; 
and  that  it  was  understood  that  the  female  slaves 
were  to  become  mothers  at  fifteen. 

A  gentleman  of  the  highest  character,  a  southern 
planter,  observed,  in  conversation  with  a  friend, 
that  little  was  known,  out  of  bounds,  of  the  reasons 
of  the  new  laws  by  which  emancipation  was  made  so 
difficult  as  it  is.  He  said  that  the  very  general  con- 
nexion of  white  gentlemen  with  their  female  slaves 
introduced  a  mulatto  race  whose  numbers  would 
become  dangerous,  if  the  affections  of  their  white 
parents  were  permitted  to  render  them  free.  The 
liberty  of  emancipating  them  was  therefore  abo- 
lished, while  that  of  selling  them  remained.  There 
are  persons  who  weakly  trust  to  the  force  of  the 
parental  affection  for  putting  an  end  to  slavery, 
when  the  amalgamation  of  the  races  shall  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  involve  a  sufficient  number !  I 
actually  heard  this  from  the  lips  of  a  clergyman  in 
the  south.  Yet  these  planters,  who  sell  their  own 
offspring  to  fill  their  purses,  who  /have  such  off- 
spring for  the  sake  of  filling  their,  purses,  dare  to 
raise  the  cry  of  "amalgamation"  against  the  abo- 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  329 

litionists  of  the  north,  not  one  of  whom  has,  as  far 
as  evidence  can  show,  conceived  the  idea  of  a  mix- 
ture of  the  races.  It  is  from  the  south,  where  this 
mixture  is  hourly  encouraged,  that  the  canting  and 
groundless  reproach  has  come.  I  met_with_no 
candid  southerner  who  was  not  full  of  shame  at  the 
monstrous  hypocrisy. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  most  savage  violences 
that  are  now  heard  of  in  the  world  take  place  in 
the  southern  and  western  States  of  America. 
Burning  alive,  cutting  the  heart  out,  and  sticking 
it  on  the  point  of  a  knife,  and  other  such  diabolical 
deeds,  the  result  of  the  deepest  hatred  of  which 
the  human  heart  is  capable,  are  heard  of  only  there. 
The  frequency  of  such  deeds  is  a  matter  of  dispute, 
which  time  will  settle.*  The  existence  of  such 
deeds  is  a  matter  of  no  dispute.  Whether  two  or 
twenty  such  deeds  take  place  in  a  year,  their  per- 
petration testifies  to  the  existence  of  such  hatred 
as  alone  could  prompt  them.  There  is  no  doubt 
in  my  mind  as  to  the  immediate  causes  of  such 
outrages.  They  arise  out  of  the  licentiousness  of 
manners.  The  negro  is  exasperated  by  being  de- 
prived of  his  wife, — by  being  sent  out  of  the  way 
that  his  master  may  take  possession  of  his  home. 
He  stabs  his  master ;  or,  if  he  cannot  fulfil  his  de- 

*  1  knew  of  the  death  of  four  men  by  summary  burning  alive, 
within  thirteen  months  of  my  residence  in  the  United  States. 


330  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

sire  of  vengeance,  he  is  a  dangerous  person,  an 
object  of  vengeance  in  return,  and  destined  to  some 
cruel  fate.  If  the  negro  attempts  to  retaliate,  and 
defile  the  master's  home,  the  faggots  are  set  alight 
about  him.  Much  that  is  dreadful  ensues  from 
the  negro  being  subject  to  toil  and  the  lash  : 
but  I  am  confident  that  the  licentiousness  of  the 
masters  is  the  proximate  cause  of  society  in  the 
south  and  south-west  being  in  such  a  state  that  110- 
thing  else  is  to  be  looked  for  than  its  being  dissolved 
into  its  elements,  if  man  does  not  soon  cease  to  be 
called  the  property  of  man.  This  dissolution  will 
never  take  place  through  the  insurrection  of  the 
negroes;  but  by  the  natural  operation  of  vice. 
But  the  process  of  demoralisation  will  be  stopped, 
no  doubt,  before  it  reaches  that  point. 
There  is  no  reason  to  apprehend  serious  insurrec- 
tion ;  for  the  negroes  are  too  degraded  to  act  in 
concert,  or  to  stand  firm  before  the  terrible  face  of 
the  white  man.  Like  all  deeply-injured  classes  of 
persons,  they  are  desperate  and  cruel,  on  occasion, 
kindly  as  their  nature  is ;  but  as  a  class,  they  have 
no  courage.  The  voice  of  a  white,  even  of  a  lady, 
if  it  were  authoritative,  would  make  a  whole  regi- 
ment of  rebellious  slaves  throw  down  their  arms 
and  flee.  Poison  is  the  weapon  that  suits  them 
best :  then  the  knife,  in  moments  of  exasperation. 
They  will  never  take  the  field,  unless  led  on  by 


MORALS    OF   SLAVERY.  331 

free  blacks.  Desperate  as  the  state  of  society  is, 
it  will  be  rectified,  probably,  without  bloodshed. 

It  may  be  said  that  it  is  doing  an  injustice  to 
cite  extreme  cases  of  vice  as  indications  of  the  state 
of  society.  I  do  not  think  so,  as  long  as  such 
cases  are  so  common  as  to  strike  the  observation  of 
a  mere  passing  stranger;  to  say  nothing  of  their 
incompatibility  with  a  decent  and  orderly  fulfilment 
of  the  social  relations.  Let  us,  however,  see  what 
is  the  very  best  state  of  things.  Let  us  take  the 
words  and  deeds  of  some  of  the  most  religious,  re- 
fined, and  amiable  members  of  society.  It  was 
this  aspect  of  affairs  which  grieved  me  more,  if 
possible,  than  the  stormier  one  which  I  have  pre- 
sented. The  coarsening  and  hardening  of  mind 
and  manners  among  the  best ;  the  blunting  of  the 
moral  sense  among  the  most  conscientious,  gave 
me  more  pain  than  the  stabbing,  poisoning,  and 
burning.  A  few  examples  which  will  need  no 
comment,  will  suffice. 

Two  ladies,  the  distinguishing  ornaments  of  a 
very  superior  society  in  the  south,  are  truly  un- 
happy about  slavery,  and  opened  their  hearts  freely 
to  me  upon  the  grief  which  it  caused  them, — the 
perfect  curse  which  they  found  it.  They  need  no 
enlightening  on  this,  nor  any  stimulus  to  acquit 
themselves  as  well  as  their  unhappy  circumstances 
allow.  They  one  day  pressed  me  for  a  declaration 


332  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

of  what  I  should  do  in  their  situation.  I  replied 
that  I  would  give  up  everything,  go  away  with  my 
slaves,  settle  them,  and  stay  by  them  in  some  free 
place.  I  had  said,  among  other  things,  that  I  dare 
not  stay  there, — on  my  own  account, — from  moral 
considerations.  "  What,  not  if  you  had  no  slaves  ?' 
"No."  "Why?"  "I  could  not  trust  myself  to 
live  where  I  must  constantly  witness  the  exercise 
of  irresponsible  power."  They  made  no  reply  at 
the  moment :  but  each  found  occasion  to  tell  me, 
some  days  afterwards,  that  she  had  been  struck  to 
the  heart  by  these  words:  the  consideration  I 
mentioned  having  never  occurred  to  her  before  ! 

Madame  Lalaurie,  the  person  who  was  mobbed 
at  New  Orleans,  on  account  of  her  fiendish  cruelty 
to  her  slaves, — a  cruelty  so  excessive  as  to  compel 
the  belief  that  she  was  mentally  deranged,  though 
her  derangement  could  have  taken  such  a  direction 
nowhere  but  in  a  slave  country ; — this  person  was 
described  to  me  as  having  been  "  very  pleasant  to 
whites." 

A  common  question  put  to  me  by  amiable  ladies 
was,  "Do  not  you  find  the  slaves  generally  very 
happy  ?"  They  never  seemed  to  have  been  asked, 
or  to  have  asked  themselves,  the  question  with 
which  I  replied : — "  Would  you  be  happy"  with 
their  means  ?" 

One  sultry  morning,  I  was  sitting  with  a  friend, 


MORALS    OF   SLAVERY.  333 

who  was  giving  me  all  manner  of  information  about 
her  husband's  slaves,  both  in  the  field  and  house ; 
how  she  fed  and  clothed  them ;  what  indulgences 
they  were  allowed ;  what  their  respective  capabi- 
lities were ;  and  so  forth.  While  we  were  talking, 
one  of  the  house-slaves  passed  us.  I  observed  that 
she  appeared  superior  to  all  the  rest ;  to  which  my 
friend  assented.  "  She  is  A.'s  wife?1'  said  I.  "We 
call  her  A.'s  wife,  but  she  has  never  been  married 
to  him.  A.  and  she  came  to  my  husband,  five  years 
ago,  and  asked  him  to  let  them  marry :  but  he 
could  not  allow  it,  because  he  had  not  made  up  his 
mind  whether  to  sell  A. ;  and  he  hates  parting  hus- 
band and  wife."  "  How  many  children  have  they  ?" 
"  Four."  "  And  they  are  not  married  yet  ?"  "  No ; 
my  husband  has  never  been  able  to  let  them 
marry.  He  certainly  will  not  sell  her :  and  he 
has  not  determined  yet  whether  be  shall  sell  A." 

Another  friend  told  me  the  following  story.  B. 
was  the  best  slave  in  her  husband's  possession.  B. 
fell  in  love  with  C.,  a  pretty  girl,  on  a  neighbour- 
ing estate,  who  was  purchased  to  be  B.'s  wife.  C.'s 
temper  was  jealous  and  violent;  and  she  was  always 
fancying  that  B.  showed  attention  to  other  girls. 
Her  master  warned  her  to  keep  her  temper,  or  she 
should  be  sent  away.  One  day,  when  the  master 
was  dining  out,  B.  came  to  him,  trembling,  and  re- 
lated that  C.  had,  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  aimed  a  blow 


334  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

at  his  head  with  an  axe,  and  nearly  struck  him. 
The  master  went  home,  and  told  C.  that  her  tem- 
per could  no  longer  be  borne  with,  and  she  must 
go.  He  offered  her  the  choice  of  being  sold  to  a 
trader,  and  carried  to  New  Orleans,  or  of  being  sent 
to  field  labour  on  a  distant  plantation.  She  preferred 
being  sold  to  the  trader ;  who  broke  his  promise  of 
taking  her  to  New  Orleans,  and  disposed  of  her  to 
a  neighbouring  proprietor.  C.  kept  watch  over  her 
husband,  declaring  that  she  would  be  the  death  of 
any  girl  whom  B.  might  take  to  wife.  "  And  so," 
said  my  informant,  "  poor  B.  was  obliged  to  walk 
about  in  single  blessedness  for  some  time  ;  till,  last 
summer,  happily,  C.  died." — "  Is  it  possible,"  said  I, 
"  that  you  pair  and  part  these  people  like  brutes  ?" 
— The  lady  looked  surprised,  and  asked  what  else 
could  be  done. 

One  day  at  dinner,  when  two  slaves  were  stand- 
ing behind  our  chairs,  the  lady  of  the  house  was 
telling  me  a  ludicrous  story,  in  which  a  former  slave 
of  hers  was  one  of  the  personages,  serving  as  a  butt 
on  the  question  of  complexion.  She  seemed  to  recol- 
lect that  slaves  were  listening ;  for  she  put  in,  "  D. 
was  an  excellent  boy,"  (the  term  for  male  slaves  of 
every  age.)  "  We  respected  him  very  highly  as  an 
excellent  boy.  We  respected  him  almost  as  much 
as  if  he  had  been  a  white.  But,  &c. " 

A  southern  lady,  of  fair  reputation  for  refine- 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  335 

ment  and  cultivation,  told  the  following  story  in  the 
hearing  of  a  company,  among  whom  were  some 
friends  of  mine.  She  spoke  with  obvious  uncon- 
sciousness that  she  was  saying  anything  remark- 
able :  indeed  such  unconsciousness  was  proved  by 
her  telling  the  story  at  all.  She  had  possessed  a 
very  pretty  mulatto  girl,  of  whom  she  declared  her- 
self fond.  A  young  man  came  to  stay  at  her  house, 
and  fell  in  love  with  the  girl.  "  She  came  to  me," 
said  the  lady,  "  for  protection  ;  which  I  gave  her." 
The  young  man  went  away,  but  after  some  weeks, 
returned,  saying  he  was  so  much  in  love  with  the 
girl  that  he  could  not  live  without  her.  "  I  pitied 
the  young  man,"  concluded  the  lady ;  "  so  I  sold  the 
girl  to  him  for  1,500  dollars." 

I  repeatedly  heard  the  preaching  of  a  remarkably 
liberal  man,  of  a  free  and  kindly  spirit,  in  the  south. 
His  last  sermon,  extempore,  was  from  the  text 
"  Cast  all  your  care  upon  him,  for  He  careth  for 
you."  The  preacher  told  us,  among  other  things, 
that  God  cares  for  all, — for  the  meanest  as  well  as 
the  mightiest.  "  He  cares  for  that  coloured  per- 
son," said  he,  pointing  to  the  gallery  where  the  peo- 
ple of  colour  sit, — "  he  cares  for  that  coloured 
person  as  well  as  for  the  wisest  and  best  of  you 
whites."  This  was  the  most  wanton  insult  I  had 
ever  seen  offered  to  a  human  being ;  and  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  I  refrained  from  walking  out  of  the 


336  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

church.  Yet  no  one  present  to  whom  I  afterwards 
spoke  of  it  seemed  able  to  comprehend  the  wrong. 
"  Well !"  said  they :  "  does  not  God  care  for  the 
coloured  people  ?" 

Of  course,  in  a  society  where  things  like  these 
are  said  and  done  by  its  choicest  members,  there  is 
a  prevalent  unconsciousness  of  the  existing  wrong. 
The  daily  and  hourly  plea  is  of  good  intentions  to- 
wards the  slaves  ;  of  innocence  under  the  aspersions 
of  foreigners,  They  are  as  sincere  in  the  belief  that 
they  are  injured  as  their  visitors  are  cordial  in  their 
detestation  of  the  morals  of  slavery.  Such  uncon- 
sciousness of  the  milder  degrees  of  impurity  and 
injustice  as  enables  ladies  and  clergymen  of  the 
highest  character  to  speak  and  act  as  I  have  re- 
lated, is  a  sufficient  evidence  of  the  prevalent  gross- 
ness  of  morals.  One  remarkable  indication  of  such 
blindness  was  the  almost  universal  mention  of 
the  state  of  the  Irish  to  me,  as  a  worse  case  than 
American  slavery.  I  never  attempted,  of  course,  to 
vindicate  the  state  of  Ireland :  but  1  was  surprised 
to  find  no  one  able,  till  put  in  the  way,  to  see  the 
distinction  between  political  misgoverument  and 
personal  slavery :  between  exasperating  a  people 
by  political  insult,  and  possessing  them,  like  brutes, 
for  pecuniary  profit.  The  unconsciousness  of  guilt 
is  the  worst  of  symptoms,  where  there  are  means  of 
light  to  be  had.  I  shall  have  to  speak  hereafter  of 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  337 

the  state  of  religion  throughout  the  country.  It  is 
enough  here  to  say  that  if,  with  the  law  of  liberty 
and  the  gospel  of  peace  and  purity  within  their 
hands,  the  inhabitants  of  the  south  are  unconscious 
of  the  low  state  of  the  morals  of  society,  such  blind- 
ness proves  nothing  so  much  as  how  far  that 
which  is  highest  and  purest  may  be  confounded  with 
what  is  lowest  and  foulest,  when  once  the  fatal  at- 
tempt has  been  entered  upon  to  make  them  co-exist. 
From  their  co-existence,  one  further  step  may  be 
taken ;  and  in  the  south  has  been  taken ;  the  mak- 
ing the  high  and  pure  a  sanction  for  the  low  and 
foul,  Of  this,  more  hereafter. 

The  degradation  of  the  women  is  so  obvious  a 
consequence  of  the  evils  disclosed  above,  that  the 
painful  subject  need  not  be  enlarged  on.  By  the 
degradation  of  women,  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  any 
doubt  of  the  purity  of  their  manners.  There  are 
reasons,  plain  enough  to  the  observer,  why  their 
manners  should  be  even  peculiarly  pure.  They  are 
all  married  young,  from  their  being  out-numbered 
by  the  other  sex :  and  there  is  ever  present  an  un- 
fortunate servile  class  of  their  own  sex  to  serve  the 
purposes  of  licentiousness,  so  as  to  leave  them  un- 
tempted.  Their  degradation  arises,  not  from  their 
own  conduct,  but  from  that  of  all  other  parties  about 
them.  Where  the  generality  of  men  carry  secrets 
which  their  wives  must  be  the  last  to  know ;  where 

VOL.    II.  Q 


338  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

the  busiest  and  more  engrossing  concerns  of  life 
must  wear  one  aspect  to  the  one  sex,  and  another  to 
the  other,  there  is  an  end  to  all  wholesome  confi- 
dence and  sympathy,  and  woman  sinks  to  be  the 
ornament  of  her  husband's  house,  the  domestic 
manager  of  his  establishment,  instead  of  being  his 
all-sufficient  friend.  I  am  speaking  not  only  of 
what  I  suppose  must  necessarily  be ;  but  of  what  I 
have  actually  seen.  I  have  seen,  with  heart-sorrow, 
the  kind  politeness,  the  gallantry,  so  insufficient  to 
the  loving  heart,  with  which  the  wives  of  the  south 
are  treated  by  their  husbands.  I  have  seen  the 
horror  of  a  woman's  having  to  work, — to  exert  the 
faculties  which  her  Maker  gave  her; — the  eager- 
ness to  ensure  her  unearned  ease  and  rest ;  the 
deepest  insult  which  can  be  offered  to  an  intelligent 
and  conscientious  woman.  I  know  the  tone  of  con- 
versation which  is  adopted  towards  women ;  different 
in  its  topics  and  its  style  from  that  which  any  man 
would  dream  of  offering  to  any  other  man.  I  have 
heard  the  boast  of  the  chivalrous  consideration  in 
which  women  are  held  throughout  their  woman's 
paradise;  and  seen  something  of  the  anguish  of 
crushed  pride,  of  the  conflict  of  bitter  feelings  with 
which  such  boasts  have  been  listened  to  by  those 
whose  aspirations  teach  them  the  hollowness  of  the 
system.  The  gentlemen  are  all  the  while  unaware 
that  women  are  not  treated  in  the  best  possible 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  339 

manner  among  them:  and  they  will  remain  thus 
blind  as  long  as  licentious  intercourse  with  the 
lowest  of  the  sex  unfits  them  for  appreciating  the 
highest.  Whenever  their  society  shall  take  rank 
according  to  moral  rather  than  physical  considera- 
tions"; "when ever  they  shall  rise  to  crave  sympathy 
in  the  real  objects  of  existence :  whenever  thev  shall 
begin  to  inquire  what  human  life  is,  and  wherefore, 
and  to  reverence  it  accordingly,  they  will  humble 
themselves  in  shame  for  their  abuse  of  the  right  of 
the  strongest ;  for  those  very  arrangements  and  ob- 
servances which  now  constitute  their  boast.  A  lady 
who,  brought  up  elsewhere  to  use  her  own  faculties, 
and  employ  them  on  such  objects  as  she  thinks  pro- 
per, and  who  has  more  knowledge  and  more  wisdom 
than  perhaps  any  gentleman  of  her  acquaintance, 
told  me  of  the  disgust  with  which  she  submits  to 
the  conversation  which  is  addressed  to  her,  under 
the  idea  of  being  fit  for  her ;  and  how  she  solaces 
herself  at  home,  after  such  provocation,  with  the 
silent  sympathy  of  books.  A  father  of  promising 
young  daughters,  whom  he  sees  likely  to  be  crushed 
by  the  system,  told  me  in  a  tone  of  voice  which  I 
shall  never  forget,  that  women  there  might  as  well 
be  turned  into  the  street,  for  anything  they  are  fit 
for.  There  are  reasonable  hopes  that  his  children 
may  prove  an  exception.  One  gentleman  who  de- 
clares himself  much  interested  in  the  whole  subject, 

Q  2 


340  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

expresses  his  horror  of  the  employment  of  women  in 
the  northern  States,  for  useful  purposes.  He  told 
me  that  the  same  force  of  circumstances  which,  in 
the  region  he  inhabits,  makes  men  independent,  in- 
creases the  dependence  of  women,  and  will  go  on  to 
increase  it.  Society  is  there,  he  declared,  "  always 
advancing  towards  orientalism."  "  There  are  but 
two  ways  in  which  woman  can  be  exercised  to  the 
extent  of  her  powers ;  by  genius  and  by  calamity, 
either  of  which  may  strengthen  her  to  burst  her  con- 
ventional restraints.  The  first  is  too  rare  a  circum- 
stance to  afford  any  basis  for  speculation  :  and  may 
Heaven  avert  the  last !"  O,  may  Heaven  hasten 
it !  would  be  the  cry  of  many  hearts,  if  these  be  in- 
deed the  conditions  of  woman's  fulfilling  the  pur- 
poses of  her  being.  There  are,  I  believe,  some 
who  would  scarcely  tremble  to  see  their  houses  in 
flames,  to  hear  the  coming  tornado,  to  feel  the 
threatening  earthquake,  if  these  be  indeed  the  mes- 
sengers who  must  open  their  prison  doors,  and  give 
their  heaven-born  spirits  the  range  of  the  universe. 
God  has  given  to  them  the  universe,  as  to  others  : 
man  has  caged  them  in  one  corner  of  it,  and  dreads 
;heir  escape  from  their  cage,  while  nian  does  that 
ivhich  he  would  not  have  woman  hear  of.  Pie  puts 
genius  out  of  sight,  and  deprecates  calamity.  lie 
las  not,  however,  calculated  all  the  forces  in  nature, 
^f  he  had,  he  would  hardly  venture  to  hold  either 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  341 

negroes  or  women  as  property,  or  to  trust  to  the 
abseriCe-of  -genius-  and  calamity. 

One  remarkable  warning  has  been  vouchsafed  to 
him.  A  woman  of  strong  mind,  whose  strenuous 
endeavours  to  soften  the  woes  of  slavery  to  her 
own  dependents,  failed  to  satisfy  her  conscience 
and  relieve  her  human  affections,  has  shaken  the 
blood-slaked  dust  from  her  feet,  and  gone  to  live 
where  every  man  can  call  himself  his  own :  and 
not  only  to  live,  but  to  work  there,  and  to  pledge 
herself  to  death,  if  necessary,  for  the  overthrow  of 
the  system  which  she  abhors  in  proportion  to  her 
familiarity  with  it.  Whether  we  are  to  call  her 
Genius  or  Calamity,  or  by  her  own  honoured  name 
of  Angelina  Grimke,  certain  it  is  that  she  is  rous- 
ing into  life  and  energy  many  women  who  were 
unconscious  of  genius,  and  unvisited  by  calamity, 
but  who  carry  honest  and  strong  human  hearts. 
This  lady  may  ere  long  be  found  to  have  mate- 
rially checked  the  "  advance  towards  orien- 
talism." 

Of  course,  the  children  suffer,  perhaps  the  most 
fatally  of  all,  under  the  slave  system.  What  can 
be  expected  from  little  boys  who  are  brought  up  to 
consider  physical  courage  the  highest  attribute  ol 
manhood ;  pride  of  section  and  of  caste  its  loftiest 
grace;  the  slavery  of  a  part  of  society  essential  to 
the  freedom  of  the  rest ;  justice  of  less  account  than 


342  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

generosity ;  and  humiliation  in  the  eyes  of  men  the 
most  intolerable  of  evils  ?  What  is  to  be  expected 
of  little  girls  who  boast  of  having  got  a  negro 
flogged  for  being  impertinent  to  them,  and  who  are 
surprised  at  the  "  ungentlemanly"  conduct  of  a 
master  who  maims  his  slave?  Such  lessons  are 
not  always  taught  expressly.  Sometimes  the  re- 
verse is  expressly  taught  But  this  is  what  the 
children  in  a  slave  country  necessarily  learn  from 
what  passes  around  them ;  just  as  the  plainest  girls 
in  a  school  grow  up  to  think  personal  beauty  the 
most  important  of  all  endowments,  in  spite  of  daily 
assurances  that  the  charms  of  the  mind  are  all  that 
are  worth  regarding. 

The  children  of  slave  countries  learn  more  and 
worse  still.  It  is  nearly  impossible  to  keep  them 
from  close  intercourse  with  the  slaves ;  and  the 
attempt  is  rarely  made.  The  generality  of  slaves 
are  as  gross  as  the  total  absence  of  domestic  sanc- 
tity might  be  expected  to  render  them.  They  do 
not  dream  of  any  reserves  with  children.  The 
consequences  are  inevitable.  The  woes  of  mothers 
from  this  cause  are  such  that,  if  this  "  peculiar  do- 
mestic institution""  were  confided  to  their  charge, 
I  believe  they  would  accomplish  its  overthrow  with 
an  energy  and  wisdom  that  would  look  more  like 
inspiration  than  orientalism.  Among  the  incal- 
culable forces  in  nature  is  the  grief  of  mothers 
weeping  for  the  corruption  of  their  children. 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERV.  343 

One  ^theabsolutely  inevitable  results  of  slavery 
is  a  disregard  of  human  rights  :  an  inability  even 
to  comprehend  them.  Probably  the  southern 
gentry,  who  declare  ~  that  the  presence  of  slavery 
enhances  the  love  of  freedom;  that  freedom  can 
be  duly  estimated  only  where  a  particular  class  can 
appropriate  all  social  privileges ;  that,  to  use  the 
words  of  one  of  them,  "  they  know  too  much  of 
slavery  to  be  slaves  themselves,"  are  sincere  enough 
in  such  declarations ;  and  if  so,  it  follows  that  they 
do  not  know  what  freedom  is.  They  may  have  the 
benefit  of  the  alternative, — of  not  knowing  what 
freedom  is,  and  being  sincere ;  or  of  knowing  what 
freedom  is,  and  not  being  sincere.  I  am  disposed 
to  think  that  the  first  is  the  more  common  case. 

One  reason  for  my  thinking  so  is,  that  I  usually 
found  in  conversation  in  the  south,  that  the  idea 
of  human  rights  was— sufficient  subsistence  in  re- 
turn for  labour.  This  was  assumed  as  the  defini- 
tion of  human  rights  on  which  we  were  to  argue 
the  case  of  the  slave.  When  I  tried  the  definition 
by  the  golden  rule,  I  found  that  even  that  straight, 
simple  rule  had  become  singularly  bent  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  profess  to  acknowledge  and 
apply  it.  A  clergyman  preached  from  the  pulpit 
the  following  application  of  it,  which  is  echoed  un- 
hesitatingly by  the  most  religious  of  the  slave- 
holders : — "  Treat  your  slaves  as  you  would  wish  to 


'344  MORALS    OF   SLAVERY. 

be  treated  if  you  were  a  slave  yourself."  I  verily 
believe  that  hundreds,  or  thousands,  do  not  see 
that  this  is  not  an  honest  application  of  the  rule ; 
so  blinded  are  they  by  custom  to  the  fact  that  the 
negro  is  a  man  and  a  brother. 

Another  of  my  reasons  for  supposing  that  the 
gentry  of  the  south  do  not  know  what  freedom  is, 
is  that  many  seem  unconscious  of  the  state  of  co- 
ercion in  which  they  themselves  are  living ;  coer- 
cion, not  only  from  the  incessant  fear  of  which  I 
have  before  spoken, — a  fear  which  haunts  their 
homes,  their  business,  and  their  recreations ;  co- 
ercion, not  only  from  their  fear,  and  from  their  being 
dependent  for  their  hourly  comforts  upon  the  ex- 
tinguished or  estranged  will  of  those  whom  they 
have  injured ;  but  coercion  also  from  their  own 
laws.  The  laws  against  the  press  are  as  peremp- 
tory as  in  the  most  despotic  countries  of  Europe  :*  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  small  number  and  size,  and  poor 
quality,  of  the  newspapers  of  the  south.  I  never  saw, 

*  No  notice  is  taken  of  any  occurrence,  however  remarkable,  in 
which  a  person  of  colour,  free  or  enslaved,  has  any  share,  for  fear 
of  the  Acts  which  denounce  death  or  imprisonment  for  life  against 
those  who  shall  write,  print,  publish,  or  distribute  anything 
having  a  tendency  to  excite  discontent  or  insubordination,  &c. ; 
or  which  doom  to  heavy  fines  those  who  shall  use  or  issue  lan- 
guage which  may  disturb  "  the  security  of  masters  with  their 
slaves,  or  diminish  that  respect  which  is  commanded  to  free 
people  of  colour  for  the  whites." 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  345 

in  the  rawest  villages  of  the  youngest  States,  news- 
papers so  empty  and  poor  as  those  of  New  Orleans. 
It  is  curious  that,  while  the  subject  of  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  British  colonies  was  necessarily  a 
very  interesting  one  throughout  the  southern  States, 
I  met  with  planters  who  did  not  know  that  any 
compensation  had  been  paid  by  the  British  nation 
to  the  West  India  proprietors.  The  miserable 
quality  of  the  southern  newspapers,  and  the  omis- 
sion from  them  of  the  subjects  on  which  the  people 
most  require  information,  will  go  far  to  account  for 
the  people's  delusions  on  their  own  affairs,  as 
compared  with  those  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
for  their  boasts  of  freedom,  which  probably  arise 
from  their  knowing  of  none  which  is  superior. 
They  see  how  much  more  free  they  are  than  their 
own  slaves;  but  are  not  generally  aware  what 
liberty  is  where  all  are  free.  In  1834,  the  number 
of  newspapers  was,  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
267;  in  Louisiana,  31;  in  Massachusetts,  108; 
in  South  Carolina,  19;  in  Pennsylvania,  220;  in 
Georgia,  29. 

What  is  to  be  thought  of  the  freedom  of  gen- 
tlemen subject  to  the  following  law  ?  "  Any 
person  or  persons  who  shall  attempt  to  teach  any 
free  person  of  colour,  or  slave,  to  spell,  read,  or 
write,  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof  by  indictment, 

Q5 


346  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

be  fined  in  a  sum  not  less  than  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  nor  more  than  five  hundred  dollars."* 
What  is  to  be  thought  of  the  freedom  of  gen- 
tlemen who  cannot  emancipate  their  own  slaves,  ex- 
cept by  the  consent  of  the  legislature ;  and  then  only 
under  very  strict  conditions,  which  make  the  deed 
almost  impracticable  ?  It  has  been  mentioned  that 
during  a  temporary  suspension  of  the  laws  against 
emancipation  in  Virginia,  10,000  slaves  were  freed  in 
nine  years;  and  that,  as  the  institution  seemed  in 
peril,  the  masters  were  again  coerced.  It  is  pleaded 
that  the  masters  themselves  were  the  repealers  and 
re-enactors  of  these  laws.  True :  and  thus  it 
appears  that  they  thought  it  necessary  to  deprive 
each  other  of  a  liberty  which  a  great  number  seem 
to  have  made  use  of  themselves,  while  they  could. 
No  high  degree  of  liberty,  or  of  the  love  of  it,  is 
to  be  seen  here.  The  laws  which  forbid  emanci- 
pation are  felt  to  be  cruelly  galling,  throughout  the 

*  Alabama  Digest.  In  the  same  section  occurs  the  following  : 
"  That  no  cruel  or  unusual  punishment  shall  be  inflicted  on  any 
slave  within  this  territory.  And  any  owner  of  slaves  authorising 
or  permitting  the  same,  shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  before  any 
court  having  cognizance,  be  fined  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
offence,  and  at  the  discretion  of  the  court,  in  any  sum  not  exceed- 
ing two  hundred  dollars." 

Two  hundred  dollars'  fine  for  torturing  a  slave  :  and  five  hun- 
dred for  teaching  him  to  read  ! 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  .'347 

south,  I  heard  frequent  bitter  complaints  of  them. 
They  are  the  invariable  plea  urged  by  individuals 
to  excuse  their  continuing  to  hold  slaves.  Such 
individuals  are  either  sincere  in  these  complaints, 
or  they  are  not  If  they  are  not,  they  must  be 
under  some  deplorable  coercion  which  compels  so 
large  a  multitude  to  hypocrisy.  If  they  are  sin- 
cere, they  possess  the  common  republican  means 
of  getting  tyrannical  laws  repealed :  and  why  do 
they  not  use  them  ?  If  these  laws  are  felt  to  be 
oppressive,  why  is  no  voice  heard  denouncing 
them  in  the  legislatures  ?  If  men  complainingly, 
but  voluntarily,  submit  to  laws  which  bind  the 
conscience,  little  can  be  said  of  their  love  of  liberty. 
If  they  submit  involuntarily,  nothing  can  be  said 
for  their  possession  of  it. 

What,  again,  is  to  be  thought  of  the  freedom  of 
citizens  who  are  liable  to  lose  caste  because  they 
follow  conscience  in  a  case  where  the  perversity  of 
the  laws  places  interest  on  the  side  of  conscience, 
and  public  opinion  against  it?  I  will  explain.  In 
a  southern  city,  I  saw  a  gentleman  who  appeared 
to  have  all  the  outward  requisites  for  commanding 
respect.  He  was  very  weal  thy  5  had  been  governor 
of  the  State,  and  was  an  eminent  and  peculiar  be- 
nefactor to  the  city.  I  found  he  did  not  stand  well. 
As  some  pains  were  taken  to  impress  me  with  this, 
I  inquired  the  cause.  His  character  was  declared 


348  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

to  be  generally  good.  I  soon  got  at  the  particular 
exception,  which  I  was  anxious  to  do  only  because 
I  saw  that  it  was  somehow  of  public  concern. 
While  this  gentleman  was  governor,  there  was  an 
insurrection  of  slaves.  His  own  slaves  were  ac- 
cused. He  did  not  believe  them  guilty,  and  re- 
fused to  hang  them.  This  was  imputed  to  an  un- 
willingness to  sacrifice  his  property.  He  was 
thus  in  a  predicament  which  no  one  can  be  placed 
in,  except  where  man  is  held  as  property.  He 
must  either  hang  his  slaves,  believing  them  inno- 
cent, and  keep  his  character;  or  he  must,  by 
saving  their  lives,  lose  his  own  character.  How 
the  case  stood  with  this  gentleman,  is  fully  known 
only  to  his  own  heart.  His  conduct  claims  the 
most  candid  construction.  But,  this  being  accorded 
as  his  due,  what  can  be  thought  of  the  freedom  of 
a  republican  thus  circumstanced  ? 

Passing  over  the  perils,  physical  and  moral,  in 
which  those  are  involved  who  live  in  a  society 
where  recklessness  of  life  is  treated  with  leniency, 
and  physical  courage  stands  high  in  the  list  of 
virtues  and  graces, — perils  which  abridge  a  man's 
liberty  of  action  and  of  speech  in  a  way  which 
would  be  felt  to  be  intolerable  if  the  restraint  were 
not  adorned  by  the  false  name  of  Honour,- — it  is 
only  necessary  to  look  at  the  treatment  of  the  abo- 
litionists by  the  south,  by  both  legislatures  and  in- 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  349 

dividuals,  to  see  that  no  practical  understanding  of 
liberty  exists  there. 

Upon  a  mere  vague  report,  or  bare  suspicion, 
persons  travelling  through  the  south  have  been 
arrested,  imprisoned,  and,  in  some  cases,  flogged 
or  otherwise  tortured,  on  pretence  that  such  per- 
sons desired  to  cause  insurrection  among  the  slaves. 
More  than  one  innocent  person  has  been  hanged ; 
and  the  device  of  terrorism  has  been  so  practised 
as  to  deprive  the  total  number  of  persons  who 
avowedly  hold  a  certain  set  of  opinions,  of  their  con- 
stitutional liberty  of  traversing  the  whole  country. 
It  was  declared  by  some  liberal-minded  gentle- 
men of  South  Carolina,  after  the  publication  of 
Dr.  Channing's  work  on  .Slavery,  that  if  Dr. 
Channing  were  to  enter  South  Carolina  with  a 
body-guard  of  20,000  men,  he  could  not  come  out 
alive.  I  have  seen  the  lithographic  prints,  trans- 
mitted in  letters  to  abolitionists,  representing  the 
individual  to  whom  the  letter  was  sent  hanging  on 
a  gallows.  I  have  seen  the  hand-bills,  purporting 
to  be  issued  by  Committees  of  Vigilance,  offering 
enormous  rewards  for  the  heads,  or  for  the  ears, 
of  prominent  abolitionists. 

If  it  be  said  that  these  acts  are  attributable  to 
the  ignorant  wrath  of  individuals  only,  it  may  be 
asked  whence  arose  the  Committees  of  Vigilance, 
which  were  last  year  sitting  throughout  the  south 


350  MORALS    OF    SLAVERY. 

and  west,  on  the  watch  for  any  incautious  person 
who  might  venture  near  them,  with  anti-slavery 
opinions  in  his  mind?'  How  came  it  that  high 
official  persons  sat  on  these  committees  ?  How  is 
it  that  some  governors  of  southern  States  made 
formal  application  to  governors  of  the  northern 
States  to  procure  the  dispersion  of  anti-slavery  so- 
cieties, the  repression  of  discussion,  and  the 
punishment  cf  the  promulgators  of  abolition  opi- 
nions? How  is  it  that  the  governor  of  South 
Carolina  last  year  recommended  the  summary  ex- 
ecution, without  benefit  of  clergy,  of  all  persons 
caught  within  the  limits  of  the  State,  holding 
avowed  anti-slavery  opinions ;  and  that  every  sen- 
timent of  the  governor's  was  endorsed  by  a  select 
committee  of  the  legislature  ? 

All  this  proceeds  from  an  ignorance  of  the  first 
principles  of  liberty.  It  cannot  be  from  a  mere 
hypocritical  disregard  of  such  principles ;  for 
proud  men,  who  boast  a  peculiar  love  of  liberty 
and  aptitude  for  it,  would  not  voluntarily  make 
themselves  so  ridiculous  as  they  appear  by  these 
outrageous  proceedings.  Such  blustering  is  so 
hopeless,  and,  if  not  sincere,  so  purposeless,  that 
no  other  supposition  is  left  than  that  they  have 
lost  sight  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  both 
their  federal  and  State  constitutions,  and  do  now 
actually  suppose  that  their  own  freedom  lies  in 


MORALS    OF    SLAVERY.  351 

crushing  all  opposition  to  their  own  will.  No  pre- 
tence of  evidence  has  been  offered  of  any  further 
offence  against  them  than  the  expression  of  ob- 
noxious opinions.  There  is  no  plea  that  any  of 
their  laws  have  been  violated,  except  those  recently 
enacted  to  annihilate  freedom  of  speech  and  the 
press :  laws  which  can  in  no  case  be  binding  upon 
persons  out  of  the  limits  of  the  States  for  which 
these  new  laws  are  made. 

The  amended  constitution  of  Virginia,  of  1830, 
provides  that  the  legislature  shall  not  pass  "  any 
law  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the 
press."  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
decree  that  the  freedom  of  the  press  shall  be  pre- 
served inviolate ;  the  press  being  the  grand  bulwark 
of  liberty.  The  constitution  of  Louisiana  declares 
that  "  the  free  communication  of  thoughts  and 
opinions  is  one  of  the  invaluable  rights  of  man ; 
and  every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write,  and 
print,  on  any  subject,  being  responsible  for  the 
abuse  of  that  liberty."  The  Declaration  of  Rights 
of  Mississippi  declares  that  "  no  law  shall  ever 
be  passed  to  curtail  or  restrain  the  liberty  of 
speech,  and  of  the  press."  The  constitutions  of 
all  the  slave  States  contain  declarations  and  pro- 
visions like  these.  How  fearfully  have  the  de- 
scendants of  those  who  framed  them  degenerated 
in  their  comprehension  and  practice  of  liberty,  vio- 


352  MORALS    OF    MANUFACTURES. 

lating  both  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  their  ori- 
ginal Bill  of  Rights !  They  are  not  yet  fully 
aware  of  this.  In  the  calmer  times  which  are  to 
come,  they  will  perceive  it,  and  look  back  with 
amazement  upon  the  period  of  desperation,  when 
not  a  voice  was  heard,  even  in  the  legislatures,  to 
plead  for  human  rights ;  when,  for  the  sake  of  one 
doomed  institution,  they  forgot  what  their  fathers 
had  done,  fettered  their  own  presses,  tied  their  own 
hands,  robbed  their  fellow-citizens  of  their  right  of 
free  travelling,  and  did  all  they  could  to  deprive 
those  same  fellow-citizens  of  liberty  and  life,  for 
the  avowal  and  promulgation  of  opinions. 

Meantime,  it  would  be  but  decent  to  forbear  all 
boasts  of  a  superior  knowledge  and  love  of  free- 
dom. 

Here  I  gladly  break  off  my  dark  chapter  on  the 
Morals  of  Slavery. 


SECTION  II. 

MORALS    OF    MANUFACTURES. 

One  remarkable  effect  of  democratic  institutions 
is  the  excellence  of  the  work  turned  out  by  those 


MORALS    OF   MANUFACTURES.  353 

who  live  under  them.  In  a  country  where  the 
whole  course  is  open  to  every  one;  where,  in 
theory,  everything  may  be  obtained  by  merit,  men 
have  the  strongest  stimulus  to  exert  their  powers, 
and  try  what  they  can  achieve.  I  found  master- 
workmen,  who  employ  operatives  of  various  na- 
tions, very  sensible  of  this.  Elsewhere,  no  artisan 
can  possibly  rise  higher  than  to  a  certain  point  of 
dexterity,  and  amount  of  wages.  In  America,  an 
artisan  may  attain  to  be  governor  of  the  State; 
member  of  Congress ;  even  President.  Instead  of 
this  possibility  having  the  effect  of  turning  his 
head,  and  making  him  unfit  for  business,  (as  some 
suppose,  who  seem  to  consider  these  opportunities  as 
resembling  the  chances  of  a  lottery,)  it  attaches 
him  to  his  business  and  his  master,  to  sober  habits, 
and  to  intellectual  cultivation. 

The  only  apparent  excess  to  which  it  leads  is  ill- 
considered  enterprise.  This  is  an  evil  sometimes 
to  the  individual,  but  not  to  society.  A  man  who 
makes  haste  to  be  famous  or  rich  by  means  of  new 
inventions,  may  injure  his  own  fortune  or  credit, 
but  is  usually  a  benefactor  to  society,  by  furnish- 
ing a  new  idea  on  which  another  may  work  with 
more  success.  Some  of  the  most  important  im- 
provements in  the  manufactures  of  the  United 
States  have  been  made  by  men  who  afterwards  be- 
came insolvent.  Where  there  is  hasty  enterprise, 


354  MORALS    OF    MANUFACTURES. 

there  is  usually  much  conceit.  The  very  haste 
seems  to  show  that  the  man  is  thinking  more  of 
himself  than  of  the  subject  on  which  he  is  em- 
ployed. It  naturally  happens  that  the  conceited 
originator  breaks  down  in  the  middle  of  his  scheme ; 
and  that  some  more  patient,  modest  thinker  takes 
it  up  where  he  leaves  off,  and  completes  the  in- 
vention. I  was  shown,  at  the  Paterson  mills,  an 
invention  completed  by  two  men  on  the  spot,  whose 
discovery  has  been  extensively  adopted  in  England. 
A  workman  fancied  he  had  discovered  a  method  by 
which  he  could  twist  rovings,  fastened  at  both  ends, 
quicker  than  had  ever  been  done  before.  Asa  more 
thoughtful  person  would  have  foreseen,  half  the 
twisting  came  undone,  as  soon  as  the  ends  were 
unfastened.  The  projector  threw  his  work  aside : 
but  a  quiet  observer  among  his  brother  workmen 
offered  him  a  partnership  and  a  new  idea,  in  re- 
turn for  the  primary  suggestion.  The  quiet  man 
saw  how  quickly  the  thread  might  be  prepared,  if 
the  rovings  could  be  condensed  fast  enough  for 
the  twisting.  He  added  his  discovery  to  what  the 
first  had  really  achieved ;  and  the  success  was 
complete. 

The  factories  are  found  to  afford  a  safe  and  use- 
ful employment  for  much  energy  which  would 
otherwise  be  wasted  and  misdirected.  I  found  that 
in  some  places  very  bad  morals  had  prevailed  be- 


MORALS    OF    MANUFACTURES.  355 

fore  the  introduction  of  manufactures ;  while  now 
the  same  society  is  eminently  orderly.  The  great 
evil  still  is  drunkenness :  but  of  this  there  is  less 
than  there  used  to  be ;  and  other  disorders  have 
almost  entirely  disappeared.  A  steady  employer 
has  it  in  his  power  to  do  more  for  the  morals  of 
the  society  about  him  than  the  clergy  themselves. 
The  experiment  has  been  tried,  with  entire  suc- 
cess, of  dismissing  from  the  mills  any  who  have 
been  guilty  of  open  vice.  This  is  submitted  to, 
because  it  is  obviously  reasonable  that  the  sober 
workmen  who  remain  should  be  protected  from 
association  with  vicious  persons  who  must  be  of- 
fensive or  dangerous  to  them.  If  any  employer 
has  the  firmness  to  dismiss  unquestionable  offen- 
ders, however  valuable  their  services  may  be  to 
him,  he  may  confidently  look  for  a  cessation  of 
such  offences,  and  for  a  great  purification  of  the 
society  in  which  they  have  occurred. 

The  morals  of  the  female  factory  population  may 
be  expected  to  be  good  when  it  is  considered  of 
what  class  it  is  composed.  Many  of  the  girls  are 
in  the  factories  because  they  have  too  much  pride 
for  domestic  service.  Girls  who  are  too  proud  for 
domestic  service  as  it  is  in  America,  can  hardly  be 
low  enough  for  any  gross  immorality ;  or  to  need 
watching ;  or  not  to  be  trusted  to  avoid  the  conta- 
gion of  evil  example.  To  a  stranger,  their  pride 


356  MORALS    OF    MANUFACTURES. 

seems  to  take  a  mistaken  direction,  and  they  ap- 
pear to  deprive  themselves  of  a  respectable  home 
and  station,  and  many  benefits,  by  their  dislike  of 
service:  but  this  is  altogether  their  own  affair. 
They  must  choose  for  themselves  their  way  of  life. 
But  the  reasons  of  their  choice  indicate  a  state  of 
mind  superior  to  the  grossest  dangers  of  their  po- 
sition. 

I  saw  a  bill  fixed  up  in  the  Walthani  mill  which 
bore  a  warning  that  no  young  lady  who  attended 
dancing-school  that  winter  should  be  employed : 
and  that  the  corporation  had  given  directions  to 
the  overseer  to  dismiss  any  one  who  should  be 
found  to  dance  at  the  school.  I  asked  the  mean- 
ing of  this ;  and  the  overseer's  answer  was,  "  Why, 
we  had  some  trouble  last  winter  about  the  dancing- 
school.  It  must,  of  course,  be  held  in  the  even- 
ing, as  the  young  folks  are  in  the  mill  all  day.  They 
are  very  young,  many  of  them ;  and  they  forget 
the  time,  and  everything  but  the  amusement,  and 
dance  away  till  two  or  three  in  the  morning. 
Then  they  are  unfit  for  their  work  the  next  day  ; 
or,  if  they  get  properly  through  their  work,  it  is  at 
the  expense  of  their  health.  So  we  have  forbid- 
den the  dancing-school ;  but,  to  make  up  for  it,  I 
have  promised  them  that,  as  soon  as  the  great  new 
room  at  the  hotel  is  finished,  we  will  have  a  dance 
once  a-fortnight.  We  shall  meet  and  break  up 


MORALS    OF    MANUFACTURES.  357 

early ;  and  my  wife  and  I  will  dance  ;  and  we  will 
all  dance  together." 

I  was  sorry  to  see  one  bad  and  very  unnecessary 
arrangement,  in  all  the  manufacturing  establish- 
ments. In  England,  the  best  friends  of  the  poor 
are  accustomed  to  think  it  the  crowning  hardship 
of  their  condition  that  solitude  is  wholly  forbidden 
to  them.  It  is  impossible  that  any  human  being 
should  pass  his  life  as  well  as  he  might  do  who  is 
never  alone, — who  is  not  frequently  alone.  This 
is  a  weighty  truth  which  can  never  be  explained 
away.  The  silence,  freedom  and  collectedness  of 
solitude  are  absolutely  essential  to  the  health  of 
the  mind ;  and  no  substitute  for  this  repose  (or 
change  of  activity)  is  possible.  In  the  dwellings 
of  the  English  poor,  parents  and  children  are 
crowded  into  one  room,  for  want  of  space  and  of 
furniture.  All  wise  parents  above  the  rank  of 
poor,  make  it  a  primary  consideration  so  to  ar- 
range their  families  as  that  each  member  may,  at 
some  hour,  have  some  place  where  he  may  enter 
in,  and  shut  his  door,  and  feel  himself  alone.  If 
possible,  the  sleeping  places  are  so  ordered.  In 
America,  where  space  is  of  far  less  consequence, 
where  the  houses  are  large,  where  the  factory  girls 
can  build  churches,  and  buy  libraries,  and  educate 
brothers  for  learned  professions,  these  same  girls 


358  MOHALS    OF    MANUFACTURES. 

have  no  private  apartments,  and  sometimes  sleep 
six  or  eight  in  a  room,  and  even  three  in  a  bed. 
This  is  very  bad.  It  shows  a  want  of  inclination 
for  solitude ;  an  absence  of  that  need  of  it 
which  every  healthy  mind  must  feel,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree. 

Now  are  the  days  when  these  gregarious  habits 
should  be  broken  through.  New  houses  are  being 
daily  built :  more  parents  are  bringing  their  chil- 
dren to  the  factories.  If  the  practice  be  now 
adopted,  by  the  corporations,  or  by  the  parents  who 
preside  over  separate  establishments,  of  partition- 
ing off  the  large  sleeping  apartments  into  small 
ones  which  shall  hold  each  one  occupant,  the 
expense  of  partitions  and  windows  and  trouble 
will  not  be  worth  a  moment's  consideration  in 
comparison  with  the  improvement  in  intelligence, 
morals,  and  manners,  which  will  be  found  to  re- 
sult from  such  an  arrangement.  If  the  change  be 
not  soon  made,  the  American  factory  population, 
with  all  its  advantages  of  education  and  of  pecu- 
niary sufficiency,  will  be  found,  as  its  numbers 
increase,  to  have  been  irreparably  injured  by  its 
subjection  to  a  grievance  which  is  considered  the 
very  heaviest  to  which  poverty  exposes  artisans  in 
old  countries.  Man's  own  silent  thoughts  are  his 
best  safeguard  and  highest  privilege.  Of  the  full 


MORALS    OF    COMMERCE. 


advantage  of  this  safeguard,  of  the  full  enjoyment 
of  this  privilege,  the  innocent  and  industrious 
youth  of  a  new  country  ought,  by  no  mismanage- 
ment, to  he  deprived.  * 


SECTION  III. 

MORALS    OF    COMMERCE. 

It  is  said  in  the  United  States  that  Commerce 
and  the  Navy  are  patronised  by  the  federal  party ; 
as  agriculture  is,  and  the  army  would  be,  if  there 
was  one,  by  the  democratic  party.  This  is  true 
enough.  The  greater  necessity  for  co-operation, 
and  therefore  for  the  partial  sacrifice  of  independ- 
ence, imposed  by  commercial  pursuits,  is  more 
agreeable  to  the  aristocratic  portion  of  society 
than  to  its  opposite.  Yet,  while  commerce  has 
been  spreading  and  improving,  federalism  has 
dwindled  away ;  and  most  remarkably  where  com- 
merce is  carried  on  in  its  utmost  activity :  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. The  democracy  are  probably  finding 
out  that  more  is  gained  by  the  concentration  of 
the  popular  will  than  is  lost  in  the  way  of  indivi- 
dual independence,  by  men  being  brought  together 
for  objects  which  require  concession  and  mutual 


360  MORALS    OF    COMMERCE. 

subordination.  However  this  may  be,  the  spirit 
of  commerce  in  the  United  States  is,  on  the  whole, 
honourable  to  the  people. 

I  shalf  have  to  speak  hereafter  of  the  regard  to 
wealth,  as  the  most  important  object  in  life,  which 
extensively  corrupts  Americans  as  it  does  all  other 
society.  Here,  I  have  to  speak  only  of  the  spirit 
in  which  one  method  of  procuring  wealth  is  prose- 
cuted. 

The  activity  of  the  commercial  spirit  in  Ameri- 
ca is  represented  abroad,  and  too  often  at  home, 
as  indicative  of  nothing  but  sordid  love  of  gain :  a 
making  haste  to  be  rich,  a  directly  selfish  desire  of 
aggrandisement.  This  view  of  the  case  seems  to 
me  narrow  and  injurious.  I  believe  that  many  de- 
sires, various  energies,  some  nobler  and  some 
meaner,  find  in  commerce  a  centre  for  their  activity. 
I  have  studied  with  some  care  the  minds  and  man 
ners  of  a  variety  of  merchants,  and  other  persons 
engaged  in  commerce,  and  have  certainly  found  a 
regard  to  money  a  more  superficial  and  intermit- 
ting influence  than  various  others, 

The  spirit  of  enterprise  is  very  remarkable  in 
the  American  merchants.  Beginning  life,  as  all 
Americans  do,  with  the  world  all  open  before  them, 
and  only  a  head  and  a  pair  of  hands  wherewith  to 
gain  it,  a  passionate  desire  to  overcome  difficulties 
arises  in  them.  Being,  (as  I  have  before  declared 


MORALS    OF    COMMERCE.  361 

my  opinion,)  the  most  imaginative  people  in  the 
world,  the  whole  world  rises  fair  before  them,  and 
they,  not  believing  in  impossibilities,  bug  to  con- 
quer it. 

Then,  there  is  the  meaner  love  of  distinction ; 
meaner  than  the  love  of  enterprise,  but  higher 
than  the  desire  of  gain.  The  distinction  sought  is 
not  always  that  which  attends  on  superior  wealth 
only ;  but  on  world.- wide  intercourses,  on  extensive 
affairs,  on  hospitality  to  a  large  variety  of  foreigners. 

Again  ;  there  is  the  love  of  Art.  Weak,  imma- 
ture, ignorant,  perhaps,  as  this  taste  at  present  is, 
it  exists :  and  indications  of  it  which  merit  all  re- 
spect, are  to  be  found  in  many  abodes.  There  are 
other,  though  not  perhaps  such  lofty  ways  of 
pursuing  art,  than  by  embodying  conceptions  in 
pictures,  statues,  operas,  and  buildings.  The  love 
of  Beauty  and  of  the  ways  of  Humanity  may  indi- 
cate and  gratify  itself  by  other  and  simpler  me- 
thods than  those  which  the  high  artists  of  the  old 
world  have  sanctified.  If  any  one  can  witness  the 
meeting  of  one  kind  of  American  merchant  with 
his  supercargo,  after  a  long,  distant  voyage,  hear 
the  questioning  and  answering,  and  witness  the 
delight  with  which  new  curiosities  are  examined, 
and  new  theories  of  beauty  and  civilisation  are  put 
forth  upon  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  and  still 
doubt  the  existence  of  a  love  of  art,  still  suppose 

VOL.  II.  R 


362  MORALS    OF    COMMERCE. 

the  desire  of  gain  the  moving  spring  of  that  man's 
mind, — may  Heaven  preserve  the  community  from 
being  pronounced  upon  by  such  an  observer ! 
The  critic  with  the  stop-watch  is  magnanimous  in 
comparison. 

Again;  there  is  the  human  eagerness  after  an 
object  once  adopted.  In  this  case,  it  may  be  mo- 
ney>  as  in  other  cases  it  may  be  Queen  Anne's 
farthings,  the  knockers  of  doors,  ancient  books, 
(for  their  editions  and  not  their  contents,)  pet  ani- 
mals, autographs,  or  any  other  merely  outward  ob- 
ject whose  charm  lies  in  the  pursuit.  Several  men 
of  business,  whose  activity  has  made  them  very 
wealthy,  have  told  me  that,  though  they  would  not 
openly  declare  what  would  look  like  a  boast,  and 
would  not  be  believed,  the  truth  was  that  they 
should  not  care  if  they  lost  every  dollar  they  had. 
They  knew  themselves  well  enough  to  perceive 
that  the  pleasure  was  in  the  pursuit,  and  not  in 
the  dollars :  and  I  thought  I  knew  some  of  them 
well  enough  to  perceive  that  it  would  be  rather  a 
relief  to  have  their  money  swept  away,  that  they 
might  again  be  as  busy  as  ever  in  a  mode  which 
had  become  pleasant  to  them  by  habit  and  suc- 
cess. Of  course,  I  am  not  speaking  of  such  as 
of  a  very  high  and  happy  order ;  as  to  be  for  a 
moment  compared  with  the  few  whose  pursuits 
are  of  an  unfailing  but  perpetually  satisfying  kind  ; 


MORALS    OF    COMMERCE.  363 

with  those  whose  recompense  is  incessant,  but 
never  fulfilled.  I  am  only  declaring  that  the  eager 
pursuit  of  wealth  does  not  necessarily  indicate  a 
love  of  wealth  for  its  own  sake. 

What  are  the  facts  ?  What  are  the  manifesta- 
tions of  the  character  of  the  American  merchants? 
After  their  eager  money-getting,  how  do  they  spend 
it  ?  How  much  do  they  prize  it  ? 

Their  benevolence  is  known  throughout  the 
world :  not  only  that  benevolence  which  founds  and 
endows  charities,  and  repairs  to  sufferers  the  mis- 
chief of  accidents ;  but  that  which  establishes 
schools  of  a  higher  order  than  common,  and  brings 
forward  in  life  the  most  meritorious  of  those  who 
are  educated  there  ;  the  benevolence  which  watches 
over  the  condition  of  seamen  on  the  ocean,  and 
their  safety  at  home ;  the  benevolence  which  busies 
itself,  with  much  expense  of  dollars  and  trouble,  to 
provide  for  the  improved  civilisation  of  the  whole 
of  society.  •  If  the  most  liberal  institutions  in  the 
northern  States  were  examined  into,  it  would  be 
found  how  active  the  merchant  class  has  been,  be- 
yond all  others,  in  their  establishment. 

Again :  their  eager  money-getting  is  not  for  pur- 
poses of  accumulation.  Some — many,  are  deplo- 
rably ostentatious ;  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  the 
ostentation  was  an  after-thought ;  though  it  might 
lead  to  renewed  money-getting.  Money  was  first 


364  MORALS    OF    COMMERCE. 

gained.  What  was  to  be  done  with  it?  One 
might  as  well  outshine  one's  neighbours,  especially 
as  this  would  be  a  fresh  stimulus  to  get  more  still 
This  is  bad ;  but  it  is  not  sordidness.  Instances  of 
accumulation  are  extremely  rare.  The  miser  is  with 
them  an  antique,  classical  kind  of  personage,  pictured 
forth  as  having  on  a  high  cap,  a  long  gown,  and  sit- 
ting in  a  vaulted  chamber,  amidst  money-chests. 
It  would,  I  believe,  be  difficult  there  to  find  a  pair 
of  eyes  that  have  looked  upon  a  real  living  and 
breathing  miser.  My  account  of  the  doings  of  a 
miser  whom  I  used  wondering  to  watch  in  the  days 
of  my  childhood  never  failed  to  excite  amazement, 
very  like  incredulity,  in  those  I  was  conversing  with. 
The  best  proof  that  the  money-getting  of  the  emi- 
nently successful  merchants  of  America  is  not  for 
money's  sake,  lies  in  the  fact,  that  in  New  Eng- 
land, peopled  by  more  than  2,000,000  of  inhabit- 
ants, there  are  not  more  than  500,  probably  not 
more  than  400  individuals,  who  can  be.  called  af- 
fluent men;  possessing,  that  is,  100,000  dollars 
and  upwards.  A  prosperous  community,  in  which 
a  sordid  pursuit  of  wealth  was  common,  would  be 
in  a  very  different  state  from  this. 

The  bankruptcies  in  the  United  States  are  re- 
markably frequent  and  disgraceful, — disgraceful  in 
their  nature,  though  not  sufficiently  so  in  the  eyes  of 
society.  A  clergyman  in  a  commercial  city  declares 


MORALS    OF    COMMERCE.  365 

that  almost  every  head  of  a  family  in  his  congrega- 
tion has  been  a  bankrupt  since  his  settlement.  In 
Philadelphia,  from  six  to  eight  hundred  persons 
annually  take  the  benefit  of  the  insolvent  laws ;  and 
numerous  compromises  take  place  which  are  not 
heard  of  further  than  the  parties  concerned  in 
them.  On  seeing  the  fine  house  of  a  man  who  was 
a  bankrupt  four  years  before,  and  who  was  then 
worth  100,000  dollars,  I  asked  whether  such  cases 
were  common,  and  was  grieved  to  find  they  were. 
Some  insolvents  pay  their  old  debts  when  they  rise 
again ;  but  the  greater  number  do  not.  This  laxity 
of  morals  is  favoured  by  the  circumstances  of  the 
community,  which  require  the  industry  of  all  its 
members,  and  can  employ  the  resources  of  all, — 
first,  of  men  of  character,  and  then  of  speculators. 
But,  few  things  are  more  disgraceful  to  American 
society  than  the  carelessness  with  which  specula- 
tors are  allowed  to  game  with  other  people's  funds, 
and,  after  ruining  those  who  put  trust  in  them,  to 
lift  up  their  heads  in  all  places,  just  as  if  they 
had,  during  their  whole  lives,  rendered  unto  all 
their  dues.  Whatever  may  be  the  causes  or  the 
palliations  of  speculation ;  whatever  may  be  pleaded 
about  currency  mistakes,  and  the  temptations  to 
young  men  to  make  fortunes  by  the  public  lands, 
one  thing  is  clear ;  that  no  man,  who,  having  failed, 
and  afterwards  having  the  means  to  pay  his  debts 

.R  3 


366  MORALS    OF    COMMERCE. 

in  full,  does  not  pay  them,  can  be  regarded  as  an 
honest  man,  and  ought  to  be  received  upon  the 
same  footing  with  honest  men,  whatever  may  be 
his  accomplishments,  or  his  subsequent  fortune. 
What  would  be  thought  of  any  society  which  should 
cherish  an  escaped  (not  reformed)  thief,  because 
a  large  legacy  had  enabled  him  to  set  up  his  car- 
riage? Yet  how  much  difference  is  there  in  the 
two  cases  ?  It  is  very  rarely  a  duty, — more  rarely 
than  is  generally  supposed,  to  mark  and  shun  the 
guilty.  Jt  is  usually  more  right  to  seek  and  help 
him.  But,  in  the  case  of  a  spreading  vice,  which 
is  viewed  with  increasing  levity,  the  reprobation  of 
the  honest  portion  of  society  ought  to  be  very  dis- 
tinct and  emphatic.  Those  who  would  not  asso- 
ciate with  escaped  thieves  should  avoid  prosperous 
bankrupts  who  are  not  thinking  of  paying  their 
debts. 

The  gravest  sin  chargeable  upon  the  merchants 
of  the  United  States  is  their  conduct  on  the  aboli- 
tion question.  This  charge  is  by  no  means  general. 
There  are  instances  of  a  manly  declaration  of  opi- 
nion on  the  side  of  freedom,  and  also  of  a  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  in  the  cause,  which  can  hardly  be  sur- 
passed for  nobleness.  There  are  merchants  who 
have  thrown  up  their  commerce  with  the  south 
when  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  its  gains 
were  wrung  from  the  slave;  and  there  are  many 


MORALS    OF   COMMERCE.  367 

who  have  freely  poured  out  their  money,  and  risked 
their  reputation,  in  defence  of  the  abolition  cause, 
and  of  liberty  of  speech  and  the  press.  But  the 
reproach  of  the  persecution  of  the  abolitionists,  and 
of  tampering  with  the  fundamental  liberties  of  the 
people,  rests  mainly  with  the  merchants  of  the 
northern  States. 

It  is  worthy  of  remembrance  that  the  Abolition 
movement  originated  from  the  sordid  act  of  a  mer- 
chant. While  Garrison  was  at  Baltimore,  studying 
the  Colonisation  scheme,  a  ship  belonging  to  a  mer- 
chant of  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  arrived  at 
Baltimore  to  take  freight  for  New  Orleans.  There 
was  some  difficulty  about  the  expected  cargo.  The 
captain  was  offered  a  freight  of  slaves,  wrote  to  the 
merchant  for  leave,  and  received  orders  to  carry 
these  slaves  to  New  Orleans.  Garrison  poured 
out,  in  a  libel,  (so  called,)  his  indignation  against 
this  deed,  committed  by  a  man  who,  as  a  citizen  of 
Massachusetts,  thanks  God  every  Thanksgiving 
Day  that  the  soil  of  his  State  is  untrod  by  the  foot 
of  a  slave.  Garrison  was  fined  and  imprisoned ; 
and  after  his  release,  was  warmly  received  in  New 
York,  where  he  lectured  upon  Abolition;  from 
which  time,  the  cause  has  gained  strength  so  as  to 
have  now  become  unconquerable. 

The  spirit  of  this  Newburyport  merchant  has 
dwelt  in  too  many  of  the  same  vocation.  The 


368  MORALS    OF    COMMERCE. 

Faneuil  Hall  meeting  was  convened  chiefly  by 
merchants ;  and  they  have  been  conspicuous  in  all 
the  mobs.  They  have  kept  the  clergy  dumb :  they 
have  overawed  the  colleges,  given  their  cue  to  the 
newspapers,  and  shown  a  spirit  of  contempt  and 
violence,  equalling  even  that  of  the  slave-holders, 
towards  those  who,  in  acting  upon  their  honest 
convictions,  have  appeared  likely  to  affect  their 
sources  of  profit.  At  Cincinnati,  they  were  chiefly 
merchants  who  met  to  destroy  the  right  of  discus- 
sion ;  and  passed  a  resolution  directly  recommen- 
datory of  violence  for  this  purpose.  They  were 
merchants  who  waited  in  deputation  on  the  editor 
of  the  anti-slavery  newspaper  there,  to  intimidate  him 
from  the  use  of  his  constitutional  liberty,  and  who 
made  themselves  by  these  acts  answerable  for  the 
violences  which  followed.  This  was  so  clear,  that 
they  were  actually  taunted  by  their  slave -holding 
neighbours,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  with  their 
sordidness  in  attempting  to  extinguish  the  liberties 
of  the  republic  for  the  sake  of  their  own  pecuniary 
gains. 

The  day  will  come  when  their  eyes  will  be 
cleansed  from  the  gold-dust  which  blinds  them. 
Meanwhile,  as  long  as  they  continue  active  against 
the  most  precious  rights  of  the  community ;  as  long 
as  they  may  be  fairly  considered  more  guilty  on 
this  tremendous  question  of  Human  Wrongs  than 


MORALS    OF   COMMERCE.  369 

even  the  slave-holders  of  the  south, — more  guilty 
than  any  class  whatever,  except  the  clergy, — let 
them  not  boast  of  their  liberality  and  their  bene- 
volence. Generosity  loses  half  its  grace  when  it 
does  not  co-exist  with  justice.  Those  can  ill  be 
esteemed  benefactors  to  the  community  in  one  di- 
rection, who  are  unfaithful  to  their  citizenship  in 
another.  Till  such  can  be  roused  from  their  de- 
lusion, and  can  see  their  conduct  as  others  see  it, 
the  esteem  of  the  world  must  rest  on  those  of  their 
class  who,  to  the  graces  of  enterprise,  liberality, 
and  taste,  add  the  higher  merit  of  intrepid,  self- 
sacrificing  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  Human  Rights. 


END    OF    VOL.    II. 


LONDON : 
PRINTED   BY   IBOTSON    AND    PALMER,    SAVOY   STREET. 


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